Description
The purpose of the current study was to explore whether the racial composition and relationship quality of roommates influences cardiovascular and psychosocial outcomes during three discussion tasks. Participants included 145 same-gender roommate dyads. The majority of the participants were young adults and female. Based on self-reported race, 81 (55.9%) dyads were composed of same-race participants (intraracial) and 64 (44.9%) dyads were composed of different-race participants (interracial). A mixed-model design was used to examine the effects of roommate racial composition, relationship quality, and discussion types on cardiovascular and psychosocial outcomes. Both roommates completed a measure of relationship quality then engaged in three discussion tasks (discussing a recent neutral, positive, and negative event). Prior to and after each discussion, participants filled out measures that assessed their current levels of anxiety, threat, and control. Cardiovascular outcomes (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, left ventricular ejection time, stroke volume, cardiac output, and pre-ejection period) were measured in both members of the dyad throughout the discussion. Hypotheses were tested using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Roommate racial composition (match or mismatch) and relationship quality (supportive or ambivalent) were each used to predict cardiovascular outcomes separately for each of the three discussion types. Moderated models were run when there was either a main effect of racial composition or a main effect of relationship quality. Roommate racial composition did not significantly predict relationship positivity or negativity. For the most part, neither racial composition nor relationship quality predicted cardiovascular outcomes during the discussion tasks. In the current study, neither racial composition nor relationship quality consistently predicted cardiovascular outcomes or psychosocial variables. Various factors, such as the operationalization of interracial and intraracial roommates, the geographical region from which participants were recruited, and the short length of the roommate relationships assessed may have contributed to these null findings. Future research should obtain a larger and more racially diverse sample in order to further explore how different combinations of interracial roommate pairs influence relationship quality and how both influence cardiovascular and psychosocial outcomes.
