This study tests whether being in an exogamous union affects older individual's family networks, and whether associations between exogamy and mental health reported in previous studies operate through changes in family ties and differ by gender. We focus on individuals aged 60 or above in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study between 2002 and 2016. We describe demographic and family characteristics of individuals in different types of union and estimate correlated random effects models on the changes of mental health. Exogamous immigrants have larger family networks than endogamous immigrants due to a higher chance of having in-laws nearby, while exogamous natives have smaller family networks than their endogamous counterparts. Native women in a union with immigrants exhibit worse mental health than endogamous native women, and the same disadvantage is held by immigrant men partnered with native women. Family networks influence mental health but contribute little to observed differences.

中文翻译：

---

是为了更好还是更糟的心理健康？家庭网络在异族婚姻中的作用

这项研究测试了异族通婚是否会影响老年人的家庭网络，以及之前研究中报告的异族通婚与心理健康之间的关联是否通过家庭关系的变化起作用并因性别而异。我们在 2002 年至 2016 年的德国社会经济小组研究中关注 60 岁或以上的人群。我们描述了不同类型结合中个体的人口统计学和家庭特征，并估计了心理健康变化的相关随机效应模型。由于在附近有姻亲的可能性更高，外婚移民比内婚移民拥有更大的家庭网络，而外婚本地人的家庭网络比内婚移民小。与移民结合的土著妇女比通婚的土著妇女表现出更差的心理健康，与本地妇女结成伙伴的移民男子也处于同样的不利地位。家庭网络影响心理健康，但对观察到的差异几乎没有影响。