Abstract of The Dissertation

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION


The Relationship between Perceived Influences of Race,
Depression, and Marital Satisfaction among African
American Married people


By

Lawrence Murray

Doctor Of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology

California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles
Alliant International University


2005
Carlton W. Parks, Ph.D., Chairperson


This study explored the relationship between perceived influence of race, depression, and marital satisfaction exclusively among African American married couples. The sample consisted of 91 African-American male (41) and female (49) married people between the ages of 24 and 55, with a mean age of 30 years (SD=9.39).
The annual household income was $36,000 per year. The participants in this study are not currently enrolled in school. All participants had received education on the college level(100%); 27.5% attended community college, 53.7% attended universities, and 18.7% received education on the graduate level (Table 1). Almost all of the participants were employed full-time (86.8%), 3.3% report looking for work, 4.4% work part-time, and 5.5% were unemployed. Only 7.7% reported being in the upper-middle class, 38.7% of participants were middle class, 37.4% of participants describe themselves as working class, and 16.5% of participants report being poor.
The participants were administered a Demographic Questionnaire, the Perceived Influence of Race Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory II, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Participants reported how race influenced their personal experiences, depressive symptomology, and level of marital satisfaction.
The hypothesis that participants scoring lower on depression would score higher on overall marital satisfaction was supported. It was also found that depression is inversely related to affectional expression, which is one of the subscales of marital satisfaction.
The study’s results also suggest that the way African-American married individuals feel about racial influences has no impact on depression scores. It was hypothesized that perceived influence of race or salience of race to one’s identity would have a significant correlation with marital satisfaction. This hypothesis was not supported. Information obtained in this study should be added to the body of knowledge focusing on this population.