Future fears: Discrimination, parental worries, and the role of social support from a partner

Racial discrimination is a pervasive issue that affects multiple domains of life for Black Americans. These experiences not only impact individuals in the present but can also shape how they think about and plan for the future. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), this study explores whether racial discrimination influences reproductive decision-making. Given the importance of relational and individual factors in family planning decisions, this study also considers whether the impact of discrimination differs based on the level of support from one’s romantic partner during stressful experiences or gender. Specifically, it examines: (1) whether racial discrimination is associated with parental racial worries about future children, and (2) whether partner social support and gender moderate this association. This study utilized secondary data from the National Couples’ Health and Time Study (NCHAT). The analytic sample included 166 Black adults aged 45 or younger who were not intending to have a child in the next year. Analyses conducted using the Hayes PROCESS macro in SPSS revealed that higher levels of racial discrimination were significantly associated with increased parental racial worries. However, neither partner support nor participant gender were significant moderators. These findings support research on anticipatory racial stress and highlight the impact of racism on reproductive decision-making.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Human Dvlpmt & Family Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Alicea, Alia Renee

Contributors dc:contributor

• McNeil Smith, Shardé
• Marchand, Aixa D

• racial discrimination
• parental racial worries
• social support
• parent gender
• family planning
• reproductive decision-making
• Theory of Planned Behavior
• African American families

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Alia Alicea

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129613

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129613