Search

Most studies of the mental health consequences of role occupancy do not consider racial/ethnic variation. Using a national sample of adults (19 = 13,017), this paper examines the relationship between three' role characteristics (role accumulation, role status, and role combinations) and mental health for Blacks, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans and explores the extent to which these patterns differ from those for non-Hispanic Whites. Blacks and Puerto Ricans do not benefit from role accumulation whereas Mexicans and Whites who report a high number of roles report better psychological health than those who report few roles. All ethnic groups benefit from the spousal role but there is no consistent effect of either employment or parenthood. Membership in organizational groups benefits non-Hispanic Whites only, whereas familial roles (especially having a sibling) are related to improved mental health among all ethnic groups, except Puerto Ricans. In terms of role combinations, the psychological benefits of occupying all three adult social roles is more evident among non-Hispanic Whites and Mexican Americans compared to Blacks and Puerto Ricans. These findings are discussed in the context of their implications for sociological research which assumes that social psychological processes operate in the same manner across racial/ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, a body of research has developed which purports to show that the well-established relationship between race and psychological distress is duc entirely to social class. In our paper we demonstrate that this view is incorrect: Most prior research has assumed that the effects of race and social class are additive; our analysis shows that they are actually interactive. The form of interaction is such that thc true effect of race is suppressed and tire true effect of social class is magnified in a model that fails to take the interaction into consideration. An analysis of eight different epidemiologic surveys documents this result and shows that race differences in psychological distress are particularly pronounced among people with low incomes. On the basis of this result we call for renewed interest in the effect of race on mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]