In comparison to family arguments, family network events appeared to primarily compromise emotional well-being. Both African Americans and European Americans were emotionally reactive to family network events on the day these events occurred. Although both races exhibited family network event-related increases in negative affect, only African Americans exhibited decreased positive affects on days with family network events. African Americans’ positive affect may be more vulnerable to family network events because of the cultural imperative in African Americans families to provide support to family members in need (Chatters et al., 2002; Goodwin 2003).
