The stressor-exposure path in Figure 1 examines how race plays a role in the likelihood of experiencing family stressors (Almeida, 2005; Bolger & Zuckerman, 1995). Family members represent the majority of African Americans’ social network members (Ajrouch, Antonucci, & Janevic, 2001), and daily family stressors are most likely to arise out of the routine circumstances of everyday life (Almeida, 2005). Therefore, frequent contact with extended family members in African American families (Chatters et al., 2002; Sarkisian & Gerstel, 2004), is expected to increase African Americans’ opportunities to encounter family stressors.
