1

Black Relationships
& Stress
Historical legacy of macro-level stress, marginalizes
Black couples (Murry et al., 2018)

• Primarily focused on discrimination

• Uncovering effects of structural factors
• Neighborhood stress

2
Black Relationships
& Stress
IMSSBAF (Murry et al., 2018)

• Inhibits positive attributes & promotes relational

vulnerabilities
• Exposure and effects vary by social position: race,
gender, social class

3
Neighborhoods &
Black Relationships
• Neighborhood poverty related to less relationship
warmth but higher quality (Cutrona et al., 2003)

• Perceived disorder related to men’s hostile

relationship behaviors (Wickrama et al., 2010)

4
Neighborhoods &
Black Relationships
Unexplored questions:
• Objective & subjective neighborhood characteristics
• Positive & negative relationship dimensions
• Role of gender & class

5
 Investigate the concurrent
links between

Study
neighborhood
disadvantage and Black
Goal Americans’ relationship
functioning at the nexus
of gender and class.

Objective and Positive and

Subjective Negative 6
Disadvantage Functioning
 Method
Predictors
• Perceived Neighborhood (PN): unsafety, social-
PN Social
PN Physical discohesion, and physical disorder (Jenkins et al., 2023a; Keyes, 1998 )
PN Unsafety Dis-
Disorder
cohesion • Area Deprivation Index (ADI): Census measure of
socioeconomic deprivation (Kind & Buckingham, 2018)

Financial • Financial Strain: “How would you rate your financial

ADI
Strain situation these days?” (Jenkins et al., 2023b)

7
 Method
Outcomes
• Partner Support: “How much can you relax and be
(Grzywacz, & Marks, 1999)
yourself around [your partner]?”
Partner
Satisfaction • Satisfaction: “How would you rate your marriage or
Support
close relationship these days?”
• Partner Strain: “How often does [your partner] get on
Partner
Instability your nerves?” (Grzywacz, & Marks, 1999)
Strain
• Instability: “…Realistically, what do you think the
chances are that you and your partner will eventually
separate?”
8
 Analysis
• Multilevel models stratified by • 2-way interactions: neighborhood disadvantage &
gender financial strain
• Individuals nested in census
• Significant interactions probed at ±1 SD above of
blocks
financial strain
• Outcomes tested in separate
• Covariates: age, education, neighborhood residence
models
length, marital status, work status, mental health,
• Centered variables entered sample
simultaneously
9
Relationship Support: Support

women
PN Social -.10*
PN Physical
PN Unsafety Dis- Support
Disorder
cohesion

ADI Financial
Strain

10
Relationship Instability: Instability

women
PN Social
PN Physical
PN Unsafety Dis- Disorder
cohesion

.03*
ADI Financial Instability
Instability
Strain

11
Relationship Satisfaction: Satisfaction

men
PN Social -.21*
PN Physical
PN Unsafety Dis- Satisfaction
Disorder
cohesion

ADI Financial
Strain

12
Relationship Instability: Instability

men
PN Social
PN Physical
PN Unsafety Dis- Disorder
cohesion

ADI Financial
Strain

13
Relationship Instability: Instability
Instability

men 7

Low
6
Financial Strain
Financial
Instability

5 Strain
High
4 Financial Strain
X
3

2
1.5 3.5 5.5 7.5 PN Unsafety
PN Unsafety 14
SO, What Now?
The Implications
Despite limitations, key info gained:
• Attention to neighborhood factors; multi-dimensional
nature of relationships
• Incorporation of intersectional lens
• Equipping clients with knowledge, restoring agency
• Advancing policy on residential equity

15
Affiliation:
Acknowledgments
August Jenkins is a DRIVE visiting postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in
the Human Development and Family Studies department.
TeKisha Rice is an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University in the Human Development and Family
Science department.
Funding:
Since 1995 the MIDUS study has been funded by the John D. and Catherine T. Foundation Research Network
and National Institute on Aging (P01-AG020166, U19-AG051426, 1R01AG047154-01A1).
Thanks to:
MIDUS study participants for providing information about their lives.

AAFAM and HEART Labs at University of Illinois, REST Lab at Virginia Tech:
Drs. Shardé McNeil Smith & Brian Ogolsky, and all the graduate and undergraduate students

16
 Thank you
Let's Connect

I Design Presentations! aj34@illinois.edu augustjenkins5

 References
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Murry, V. M., Butler-Barnes, S. T., Mayo-Gamble, T. L., & Inniss-Thompson, M. N. (2018). Excavating new constructs for family stress theories in the
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