Interview with Shardé McNeil Smith

Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Tell us briefly about your research project and the goals guiding this work.
Our goals for this research project were to investigate the links between structural racism and discrimination (SRD) and romantic relationship outcomes among Black couples. SRD consists of the macro-level conditions rooted in social, political, and economic structures and are known drivers for physical and mental health disparities; however, less is understood about how they contribute to relationship health disparities. This is particularly important for Black American couples who experience significant challenges to their relational health compared to other major racialized U.S. groups. Therefore, we used data from 228 couples (456 individuals) to understand associations between racial discrimination, five dimensions of structural racism at the county level (i.e., educational inequity, employment inequity, homeownership inequity, income inequity, residential segregation), and positive and negative relationship health outcomes.

How did the CSBS Small Grant Program advance this work? (e.g., pilot data collection, student or postdoctoral support)
To answer our research questions, we used data from the national representative dataset, the National Couples’ Health and Time Study (NCHAT). Funds from the CSBS Small Grant Program allowed our research team to receive graduate student support for assistance with data management, data analyses, and conference and manuscript preparation.

Were there any particularly interesting findings, insights, or highlights that emerged from this project?
Overall, we found that racial discrimination compromised positive relational functioning (i.e., relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment) and increased risk of negative relational functioning (i.e., relationship conflict, risk of breaking up). There were also some interesting findings about structural racism that emerged from this project in ways that we did not expect. We found evidence of lower relationship satisfaction among couples experiencing elevated levels of racial discrimination, particularly in counties with more structural equity (i.e., areas with equitable homeownership rates between white and Black adults). We concluded that it is possible that there may be heightened sensitivity to interpersonal discrimination in areas with low structural inequality, because these interpersonal experiences are unexpected or incongruent with the local norm of equity, making it more stressful and damaging to personal relationships. Thus, it seems that the effects of racial discrimination are particularly harmful in areas that appear structurally equitable and can consequently spill over into relationship functioning.

How did the initial CSBS Small Grant funding position you for future opportunities? What are your next steps?
The CSBS Small Grant funding positioned us to develop preliminary evidence for another funding opportunity. We were able to utilize our preliminary findings to support a proposal for new data collection of Black couples in Champaign County. This new project is currently underway and findings from this project will allow us to better understand how relationship functioning is tied to the racialized stressors experienced by living and working in this county. Our next steps will be to extend this work to other counties with varying structural racism profiles. We are grateful for the support from CSBS as it has created opportunities for this important work in ways that may not be possible otherwise.