Selection into Interracial Relationships and Psychological Well-being among White Women

Rhiannon A Kroeger, Ohio State University

Using waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine selection into and variation in psychological well-being between white women in same-race versus interracial relationships. We find no evidence of selection into interracial relationships on measures of depressive symptoms. White women with black or Hispanic partners and women in same-race relationships with previous black partners are all less likely than their counterparts in same-race relationships who have never dated interracially to report high life satisfaction. Among those in interracial relationships, this effect is partially mediated by involvement in multiple previous interracial relationships. White women with black partners report more depressive symptoms than those in same-race relationships who have never dated interracially. Finally, women entering into relationships with black partners between waves experienced a greater increase in depressive symptoms compared with women who entered a same-race relationship and had no history of dating interracially.