EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF FAMILY STRESS AND FAMILY STRENGTHS ON THE QUALITY OF MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS IN MARRIED AND UNMARRIED BLACK FAMILIES

Mother-child relationships are complex, diverse, and change in response to internal and external factors that affect families and family life. For instance, Black children are more likely to live in households with unmarried parents. Even more, Black families are disproportionately more likely to be in poverty than the general population. Research on Black families tends to center association between family structure and poverty as mechanisms affecting mother-child relationships. There is little research on the role of economic hardship on familial relationships in Black families. Additionally, there is little research on the role of family strengths on familial relationships in Black families. Thus, the purpose of this study is to (1) examine the independent and joint effects of family stress (e.g., poverty and economic hardship) and family strengths (e.g., social support and religious attendance) on mother-child relationships in Black families and (2) examine whether family structure moderates the effects of family stress and family strengths on mother-child relationships in Black families. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, I conduct OLS regression to analyze the individual and joint effects of poverty, economic hardship, social support, and religious attendance on mother-child closeness and the time children report spending with their mothers. The results revealed that social support and religious attendance were associated with increased mother-child closeness and more time children report spending with their mothers. Moreover, the results revealed that poverty and economic hardship had no significant impact on mother-child closeness, or the time children spend with their mothers. Additionally, the results revealed that family structure does not moderate the effects of family stress or family strengths on mother-child closeness and the time children spend with their mothers. I conclude that family strengths (e.g., social support and religious attendance) are positively associated with mother-child relationships in Black families, while poverty, economic hardship, and family structure have no effects on mother-child relationships.