Fall Research Expo 2021

Interracial Relationships and Parent-Child Bonds

Attitudinal data suggests that children in interracial relationships have parents of generations less tolerant towards interracial union. While studies show the increasing importance of parent-child bonds throughout early adulthood, it is unclear how children’s involvement in interracial relationships (which are historically stigmatized) may affect those bonds. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, I find that individuals in interracial relationships have worse quality of relationships with parents than their same-race peers, with relationships worsening more with fathers than with mothers. I thus conclude that involvement in an interracial relationship may weaken children’s bonds with parents. These findings have important implications for research on interracial relationships and family bonds.

PRESENTED BY
Other
College of Arts & Sciences 2022
Advised By
Shannon Cavanagh
Professor of Sociology & Training Director, Population Research Center University of Texas at Austin
Join Lin for a virtual discussion
PRESENTED BY
Other
National Science Foundation
College of Arts & Sciences 2022
Advised By
Shannon Cavanagh
Professor of Sociology & Training Director, Population Research Center University of Texas at Austin

Comments

Hey Lin! I found your topic interesting because I've never thought about how racial status affects parent-child bonds specifically in interracial relationships. I was wondering about potential confounding variables in a couple areas in your presentation: 1) Could the worsened relationship with fathers be due to the father's race (i.e. is there any correlation between the race of the father specifically and the quality of the parent-child relationship)? 2) What do you think about other variables besides the stigmatization of interracial relationships that affect the parent-child bond? I was thinking something like wealth disparities between parents, but I'm sure there are other factors as well.