Overall, our findings revealed racial similarities in exposure and reactivity to certain types of family stressors, emphasizing the value of differentiating between different sources of family stress. Both races were emotionally reactive to family arguments, suggesting that stressors are associated with compromised well-being across all family contexts, regardless of race. In contrast, African Americans were more physically reactive to family arguments, and stressor reactivity was more enduring among African Americans, lasting into the next day. Together, our findings suggest that the context of African Americans’ family lives may play a role in undermining African Americans’ daily health through differential physical reactivity and prolonged reactivity to family stressors.
