An adapted version of the Daily Stress Process Model, the Daily Family Stress Model, provides the conceptual framework for examining the linkages between race, family relationships, and the daily stress process (Almeida, 2005; Figure 1). In this model, race represents a sociodemographic factor that is proposed to shape both exposure and reactivity to daily family stressors. We anticipate that African Americans will be particularly vulnerable to daily family stressors. Previous research provides support for racial stratification of stress, where African Americans are disproportionately exposed to stressful life events and chronic strains (e.g., Mujahid, Roux, Cooper, Shea, & Williams, 2011). In African American families, frequent contact with family network members (Chatters et al., 2002; Sarkisian & Gerstel 2004) coexists with the residential segregation, racial discrimination, and economic strains that exist for African Americans at all incomes levels (Murry, Brown, Brody, Cutrona, & Simons, 2001; Williams & Mohammed, 2009). The unique context of African Americans’ lives is proposed to play a role in determining the kinds of family stressors African Americans experience and how they react emotionally and physically to daily family stressors.
