Marital Status and Mental Health: Differences by Parenthood Status and Race-ethnicity for Young Adults

• In Event: 381 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Couple Relationships

Abstract

The association between marriage and mental health is well known and the relationship between parenthood and mental health has been repeatedly studied but the results are inconsistent. The influence of other status characteristics such as race-ethnicity are largely missing from the conversation. In this paper, I investigate the connection between one’s romantic relationship status – married, cohabiting, or single – and depressive symptoms in young adulthood. I also examine whether parenthood and/or race and ethnicity, moderate the relationship. Further, I examine whether the influence of relationship status varies due to the joint effect of parenthood and race-ethnicity. In other words, the association between relationship type and mental health may vary independently by parenthood and race-ethnicity; but there may also be an interactive impact when either statuses, or some combination of the types of romantic relationship and parental status, are both present. The results indicate that relationship status does have an impact on mental health. Further, the joint effects of parenthood and race-ethnicity also have an influence on mental health.

Author

• Brittany Nicole Hearne, Vanderbilt University