The current study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between experiences of racial discrimination and private regard (i.e., feelings about being Black and other Black people) among 346 Black early adolescents who completed four assessments over two years. Between-person (interpersonal) and within-person (intrapersonal) effects were…

Depression is a heterogeneous disorder with lifetime prevalence of "major depressive disorder" estimated to be 16.2%. Although the disorder is common and impairs functioning, it often goes untreated, with less than adequate response even when treated. We review research indicating the likely value of utilizing currently available, well-validated,…

Background: Randomized prevention trials provide a unique opportunity to test hypotheses about the interaction of genetic predispositions with contextual processes to create variations in phenotypes over time. Methods: Using two longitudinal, randomized prevention trials, molecular genetic and alcohol use outcome data were gathered from more than…

Several studies have reported a relation between race-related stressors and the poor health of Black Americans. Such findings raise questions regarding the mediating biological mechanisms that might account for this link. The present study investigated elevated systemic inflammation, a factor shown to be a strong predictor of chronic illness and…

This review focuses on broad themes characterizing marital research in the past decade. In addition to continuing themes, such as a focus on conflict, violence, and impact on physical and mental health outcomes, we also address the impact of the Healthy Marriage Initiative on marital research and recent advances in methodology. We highlight an…

A sample of 398 African American youth, residing in rural counties with high poverty and unemployment, were followed from ages 11 to 19. Protective parenting was associated with better health, whereas elevated socioeconomic status (SES) risk was associated with poorer health at age 19. Genome-wide epigenetic variation assessed in young adulthood…

This study was designed to examine the prospective relations of perceived racial discrimination with allostatic load (AL), along with a possible buffer of the association. A sample of 331 African Americans in the rural South provided assessments of perceived discrimination from ages 16 to 18 years. When youth were 18 years, caregivers reported…

Addressing potential weaknesses in an earlier investigation, the authors examined the latent structure of marital discord using 4 product indicators from the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (Snyder, 1997) in a representative sample of community couples (N = 1,020). Results from 3 taxometric procedures suggested that marital discord is…

The impact of 3 different sources of stress--environmental, familial (e.g., low parental investment), and interpersonal (i.e., racial discrimination)--on the life history strategies (LHS) and associated cognitions of African American adolescents were examined over an 11-year period (5 waves, from age 10.5 to 21.5). Analyses indicated that each one…

In the past decade, the federal government, some states, and numerous communities have initiated programs to help couples form and sustain healthy marriages and relationships in order to increase family stability for children. Thus, the authors value the attention given to this emerging policy area by the "American Psychologist" in a recent…

The study of conflict has dominated psychological research on marriage. This article documents its move from center stage, outlining how a broader canvas accommodates a richer picture of marriage. A brief sampling of new constructs such as forgiveness and sacrifice points to an organizing theme of transformative processes in emerging marital…

A randomized prevention design was used to investigate a moderation effect in the association between a polymorphism in the "SCL6A4"("5HTT") gene at 5-HTTLPR and increases in youths' risk behavior initiation. Participation in the Strong African American Families (SAAF) program was hypothesized to attenuate the link between 5-HTTLPR status and risk…

The health disparities literature has identified a common pattern among middle-aged African Americans that includes high rates of chronic disease along with low rates of psychiatric disorders despite exposure to high levels of cumulative socioeconomic status (SES) risk. The current study was designed to test hypotheses about the developmental…

Although hopelessness and depression are known risk factors for suicide, most individuals who are hopeless or depressed never make a suicide attempt. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that college students' (n = 230) attitudes toward suicide (the degree to which they see it as an acceptable option under some circumstances) would moderate the…

Although marital dissatisfaction and social contact factors have been related to depression, the impact of these variables on a heterogeneous population is unclear. To determine risk for depression resulting from the absence of social support variables, 267 married adults (131 males, 136 females), with a mean age of 47 years, completed the Marital…