Linking Family Hardship to Children's Lives

Glen H. Elder, Jr.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tri Van Nguyen and Avshalom Caspi

Cornell University

ELDER, GLEN H., JR.; NGUYEN, TRI VAN; and GASPI, AVSHALOM. Linking Family Hardship to Chil-
dren's Lives. GHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 361-375. The impact of drastic income loss on chil-
dren is mediated by a number of family adaptations, including the shift toward more labor-intensive
households and altered relationships. Using newly developed codes on parenting behavior during
the Great Depression, this study investigates the role of parental behavior (rejecting, nonsupportive)
in linking economic hardship to children's lives in the Oakland Growth Study. The results extend
beyond those reported in Children of the Great Depression by showing that economic hardship
adversely influenced the psychosocial well-being of girls, but not boys, by increasing the rejecting
behavior of fathers. The parenting behavior of mothers did not vary significantly by income loss. In
addition, the rejecting influence of hard-pressed fathers was more pronounced in relation to less
attractive daughters, as judged by physical features. Attractive daughters were not likely to be
maltreated by their fathers, no matter how severe the economic pressure. These outcomes on family
mediation and conditional effects underscore the importance of viewing economic decline in rela-
tion to both the child's characteristics and parenting behavior. An understanding of the effects of
economic decline in children's lives requires knowledge of parent and child behavior within the
family and life course.

This study exemplifies two approaches to hard-pressed city of Oakland during the worst
understanding the relation between eco- years of the 1930s. Building on this earlier
nomic hardship and children's lives. The first analysis, the present study examines the role
approach specifies appropriate causal paths of parenting behavior in the process whereby
that mediate the relationship between eco- drastic economic change infiuenced chil-
nomic change and children's fimctioning. In dren's lives. Using the data archive of the
this study, we examine the role of parenting Oakland Growth Study, we focus on the pe-
behavior, especially fathers', in linking eco- riod from late childhood through early adoles-
nomic hardship to the social-affective behav- cence (1929-1936).
ior of children. The second approach iden- rp, i .i J Ac i.u l-,.
..n j-i- iU i J J. S.. i_ r Three hypotheses derived trom the liter-
tines conditions that moderate the nature of . * r -T 4. ^U t
.1 . J. i- 1 J -i,- I . ature on stress in lamifies orient the present
this mediational process, a conditional or in- . j f/-,ii j i . . i j j j . r . i .
f rr 4. T 4.t,- t, J uij study ol Oakland children and their families
teraction efi:ect. In this study, w e view child . iu i^ ^ TA T'U C ,. T
^. ., . i 4.. 1 J \ TiL- m the Great Depression. T h e first involves
attributes as potential moderators ol this pro- r -i j - ,. u j-u i
. f, 1 . , .. ^ family mediation. Here w e examine the role
cess, especially physical attractiveness. r u v. i, n r ^u '
' t- ' '^ ' ot parenting behavior, especially fathers, m
The structure of the present study ex- linking economic stress to children's lives,
tends the analytic fi-amework of Children of The second hypothesis concerns the process
the Great Depression (Elder, 1974), a longitu- of conditional variation, with emphasis on the
dinal study of 167 California children who role of children in shaping parental behavior
were bom in 1920-1921 and grew up in the in stressful times. The third hypothesis fo-

This study is based on a program of research on social change in the family and life course.
Support from the National Institute of Mental Health (grant MH-34172) is gratefully acknowledged
(Glen H. Elder, Jr., principal investigator). The most important support has come from Dr. Marjorie
Honzik, who is directing the parental behavior project at the Institute of Human Development,
Berkeley. Her pioneering conceptualization and measurement of parenting behavior in the institute
samples provided the opportunity for the present study. We are deeply grateful for her generosity
and guidance. We are also indebted to the Institute of Human Development at the University of
Galifomia, Berkeley, for permission to use the Oakland Growth data, and to Urie Bronfonbrenner for
helpful commentary on initial drafts of this manuscript. Requestsforreprints may be sent to the first
author at Garolina Population Genter, University of North Garolina at Ghapel Hill, University
Square East, Ghapel Hill, NG 27514-3997.
[Child Development, 1985, 56,361-375. 1985 by the Society for Research in Child-Development, Inc.
All rights reserved. 0009-3920/85/5602-0008$01.00]
362 Child Development
cuses on gender differences in both pro- been "shaken for nearly six years by a catas-
cesses. trophe involving not only people's values but,
in the case of many, their very existence . . .
1. Family mediation.Economic set- the great knife of the Depression had cut
backs clearly make a difference in psychologi- down impartially through the entire popula-
cal functioning (e.g., Pearlin, Lieberman, tion, cleaving open the lives and hopes of rich
Menagham, & Mullan, 1981), but how is this as well as poor" (Lynd & Lynd, 1937, p. 295).
difference manifested in children's lives? To This observation applies also to families and
understand the impact of economic hcii"dship children in the San Francisco Bay region of
on children's lives requires knowledge of the California during the Great Depression (El-
adaptations chosen and played out by their der, 1974, 1979). But while some families ex-
parents. The adverse effects of stressful eco- perienced very heavy losses through unem-
nomic times are not necessarily exercised di- ployment, others were spared hard times
rectly. They may be produced indirectly altogether, and some even managed to benefit
through their disorganizing effects on family economically from the lower living costs of
relations. / Specifically, economic hardship the 1930s. This historical veiriation (deprived
may increase children's socioemotional dis- vs. nondeprived families) serves as a point of
tress and the risk of developmental impair- departure for examining the process by which
ment by increasing the rejecting behavior of children were infiuenced by economic hard-
parents, and especially that of fathers. ship. Indeed, the Great Depressi^m can be
2. Conditional effects.It is widely rec- viewed as a naturd^_field__experiinent that
ognized that characteristics of children elicit created an exQgenous^hange in the social and
modes of parental behavior (e.g.. Bell &c Har- economic situations of^inilies and altered
per, 1977). Such behavior is likely to be espe- the developmental context of children.
cially dependent on the attributes of children Using data on the Oakland Grovi^ Study
in stressful times. A child's aversive qualities (children bom between 1920 and 1921), El-
may heighten parental hostility under such der (1974, 1979) assessed the effects of in-
pressure, and conversely, the positive qual- come loss according to a conceptual model
ities of a child may elicit greater concern and that viewed the family and its socioeconomic
nurturance fi-om parents in hard-pressed and psychological adaptations to hardship as
households. In the present study, we examine the primary link between economic change,
the physical attractiveness of children (see El- on the one hand, and the life experience and
der, 1969) as one determinant of parenting be- personality of children on the other. Sudden
havior in hard economic times.f Specifically, income loss called for new forms of economic
adolescents who are less physically attractive maintenance among Oakland families that
may be at greatej risk from family hardship and altered the domestic and economic roles of
parental maltreatment than attractive adolescents. family members, shifiing responsibilities to
3. Sex variation.The final hypothesis mother and older children. Girls assumed
derives from a growing literature (e.g., Wer- greater responsibility within the household,
ner & Smith, 1982) that identifies early ado- and a good many worked at paid jobs, as did
lescence as a period of greater vulnerability boysfi-omhard-pressed families.
for girls than for boysiConsequently, both hy-
potheses, mediational and conditional, should aptations Eathers' loss of earnings and resulting ad-
in family maintenance (e.g., wom-
apply more to adolescent girls than to boys. en's entry into the labor market) increased the
To provide a rationale for these hypoth- relative power of mother, reduced the level
eses, we tum to the analytic model and re- and effectiveness of parental control (particu-
search task. Three issues are discussed. The larly in relation to boys), and diminished the
first involves the nature of the Depression attractiveness of father as a role model for
crisis for families and children; the second, children. Income loss also fostered social un-
the postulated role of father behavior in link- certainty and ambiguity conceming family
ing hard times to children's lives; and the standing and the status of members. This ac-
third, the protective infiuence of physical at- count (Elder, 1974), however, did not give ex-
tractiveness in family interaction and its rele- plicit attention to parenting behavior as a link
vance especially to adolescent girls. between hard economic times and children's
social and emotiond behavior. In this study,
Hard Times in Children's Lives: we are concerned primarily with testing this
The Analytie Model link.
When Robert Lynd returned to Mid- Some insights conceming the mediating
dletown in 1935, he found a city that had role of pEirenting behavior in hard-pressed

families have emerged from cognate studies
of families and children in the Depression era
using the rich family and individual data
archive of the Berkeley Guidance Study
(Eichorn, Clausen, Haan, Honzik, & Mussen,
1981; Elder, Caspi, & Downey, in press; El-
der, Liker, & Cross, 1984; Elder, Liker, &
Jaworski, 1984; Liker & Elder, 1983). Heavy
income loss between 1929 and 1933 in-
creased the emotional instability, tenseness,
and explosiveness of fathers. This change en-
hanced the tendency for fathers to be punitive
and arbitrary in the discipline of their chil-
dren. By comparison, mothers did not be-
come more unstable under economic stress,
and income loss did not directly increase
their punitive or arbitrary behavior. What ac-
counts for this difference? One possible ex-
planation centers on the more personal nature
of income and job loss among men than
among wives and mothers. Eamily misfortune
was typically a result of men's losses.
The overall pattem of men's reactions to
sudden economic loss conforms to a theory of
force in regaining control over life circum-
stances (Goode, 1971). Loss of control over
one's life situation prompts efforts to regain
control. Force is one means to this end. All
findingsfi-omthe Berkeley sample (e.g., Liker
& Elder, 1983) lend support to the mediating
role of father's behavior in hard times (Hy-
pothesis 1): heavy income loss adversely in-
fiuenced young children (between 3 and 7
years old) by increasing the rejecting, nonsup-
portive behavior of fathers. In the present
study, we attempt to replicate this finding
with an older cohort of adolescents (from 11 to
14 years old) from the Oakland Growth Study.
In the OsJsland sample, hard economic
times generated by the Great Depression
caught children in transition to the social
world of adolescence. The transition into ado-
lescence is increasingly identified as a time of
psychological vulnerability for girls (e.g.,
Wemer & Smith, 1982; see also Eme, 1979).
In their longitudinal research, Simmons and
her colleagues (Simmons, Blyth, Van Cleave,
& Bush, 1979) found self-image disturbances
to be more common among girls than boys in
early adolescence. These observations sug-
gest that early adolescent girls would be espe-
cially vulnerable to parental maltreatment
during hard economic times. Some evidence
fi-om previous analyses of the Oakland study
supports this hypothesis. The psychological
costs of the transition into adolescence during
the period of economic deprivation were es-
pecially strong for girls who lacked appropriate
dress and material resources for social dating.
Elder, Jr., Nguyen, and Caspi 363
Earlier analyses (Elder, 1974, chap. 6)
found that the Oakland girls, but not boys,
were judged "less well-groomed" during
early adolescence if they came from hard-
pressed families in the 1930s, whether mid-
dle or working class. Some implications of
this handicap are manifested in junior high
school. According to self-reports, girls from
deprived homes, middle and working class,
scored higher than the nondeprived on social
unhappiness and on feelings of being socially
excluded from peer activities. Mothers also
perceived differences of this sort. Mothers
from deprived families ranked their daughters
higher on hurt feelings, worries, and self-
consciousness than mothers from nonde-
priyed families.
To the extent that adolescent girls were
especially vulnerable to family tension in the
Great Depression, this should be most appar-
ent among the least attractive girls in the Oak-
land cohort. Unattractive girls generally think
poorly of themselves (Sorell &c Nowack,
1981), and they rank low on self-confidence
and assertiveness, qualities often characteris-
tic of the victimized (Scherer & Shepherd,
1982). In addition, physically unattractive
children are more often the recipients of
negative attributions from others. For ex-
ample, adults assign more blame to physically
unattractive children, regardless of the facts
(Dion, 1972). In the Oakland cohort, adoles-
cent girls in the middle and working class
who ranked high on physical attractiveness
(staff assessmentsee Elder, 1974, chap. 8)
were rated higher than the less attractive on
self-confidence, peer acceptance, and leader-
ship. In the working class, these girls were
"less likely to form steady relationships with
boys in high school, and were generally more
guarded and selective in social friendships."
Overall, we assumed that the least attrac-
tive adolescents in the Oakland cohort were
more vulnerable to the rejecting behavior of
father than attractive children (Hypothesis 2),
and that this risk should be greatest among
adolescent girls. Several studies suggest that
physical attractiveness is more salient for the
adjustment of females than males (see Han-
sell, Spaaracino, & Ronchi, 1982). Evaluations
along social dimensions are affected not only
by attractiveness level, but also by sex, with
more differences appearing between attrac-
tive and unattractive females than between
similarly grouped males (e.g., Bar-Tal & Saxe,
1976). Hence, we have good reason to believe
that attractiveness was a powerful conditional
factor in the Depression family experience of
adolescent girls (Hypothesis 3).
364 Child Development
Methods prevailing concepts of child care and develop-
ment in the 1930s. Mothers were considered
Sample the major figures of child rearing, and they
The Oakland Growth Study began in were interviewed on two occasions during
1931 when fifth-grade children from five the period of economic hardship: 1932 and
schools in the Northeastern sector of Oakland 1934. The fathers were not interviewed, al-
were selected for a projected longitudinal though interviews with mothers included
analysis of mental, social, and physical devel- questions about fathers' behavior. Another,
opment in a normal sample of boys and girls. less systematic source of information on par-
Selection was based on two criteria: willing- enting behavior was derived from staff obser-
ness to participate, and anticipated residential vations of parents during their visits to the
permanence in the area. This procedure pro- institute. Through the generosity of Marjorie
duced a sample of 167 children, 84 boys and Honzik at the Institute of Human Develop-
83 girls, who were studied continuously from ment, we borrowed selected parenting ratings
1932 to 1939. Bom in 1920-1921, the Oak- from her large parenting project with Mary
land children were well beyond the depen- Main for the years 1931-1934. The Oakland
dent stages of early childhood at the time of children were between 11 and 14.5 years old
maximum economic hardship in the early at this time.
1930s. They graduated from high school just
before World War 11, reaching the age of Building on more than 40 years of re-
majority after opportunities had improved search on parental behavior, Honzik and
through nationwide mobilization for war. Main (1982) developed 54 parenting scales;
22 capture stressful, negative behaviors, and
Measurement 32 tap supportive parental behaviors and at-
Economic deprivation.The median titudes. This approach is based on the prem-
family income for households in the sample ise that different parents may exhibit mixes of
was $3,179 in 1929, as reported in the first positive and negative behaviors. Each behav-
parent interviews, and all but a few of the ior is rated on a seven-point scale. The pres-
fathers were fully employed. Some 4 years ent analysis is based on only a single rating
later, in the trough of the Great Depression per item and case, although the completed
(the year 1933), the median family income hit coding on the Honzik-Main project will have
a low of $1,911. To characterize Depression at least two ratings per item. Two methods
hardships, we used a binary measure of eco- were used to calculate reliabilities from the
nomic loss or deprivation between 1929 and scores of two raters on a small subset of
1933 (0 = nondeprived; 1 = deprived). Tak- families during the initial stage of the Honzik-
ing into account the sharp decline in the cost Main project: (1) correlations between raters 1
of living in the San Francisco Bay area (about and 2 for the total protocol and for each item
25% in 1933) as well as the correlation be- of the overall scale, and (2) the average of the
tween income and asset loss, all families that difference between ratings assigned by the
lost at least 35% of their income (between two raters without regard for sign. Acceptable
1929 and 1933) were classified as econom- items in terms of interjudge agreement had an
ically deprived. Less deprived families were r of .45 or greater, since the Spearman-Brown
classified as nondeprived. Deprived working- correction of this coefficient is .62 with two
(max. N = 46) and middle-class families (max. judges. On the absolute difference analysis,
N = 49) lost 58% and 64% of their income, the acceptable difference was 1.50 for the
respectively. The corresponding figures for seven-point scales.
nondeprived families were 15% in the work-
ing class (max. ZV = 21) and 20% in the mid- Considering these data, we selected four
dle class (max. N = 40). Income loss repre- parent behavior ratings for the analysis, three
sents a general index of the loss of material on negative behavior (rejecting, exploiting,
resources. More specific measures of asset indifferent) and one on positive behavior
change are not available. However, prior re- (emotional support). The last rating was the
search indicates that loss of income generally only index of emotional support that was
coincided with the loss of family assets, from available for a substantive number of the
life insurance to furniture and other residen- mothers and fathers in the Oakland sample.
tial property. An extended discussion of the As broader measures of the family environ-
deprivation measure is provided in Children ment, we also selected four seven-point rat-
of the Great Depression (Elder, 1974, chap. ings, entitled marital compatibility, emotional
3). tone of home, family coordination, and child-
centered home. The parent ratings within
Parenting behavior.The data archive of each set of negative behaviors were highly
the Oakland Growth Study generally refiects
 Elder, Jr., Nguyen, atid Caspi 365
correlated, thus permitting construction of the 1. Goal-oriented: "High aspirations," "produc-
following scales: tive," "gets things done," "self-defeating in relation
to goals," and "lacks personal meaning." Scores on
Rejecting (mother, father): "Negatively re- the latter two items were reflected. Average r: boys
sponsive to child," "rejecting," "neglecting," "not = .49; girls = .31. Reliability coefiScient (a): boys
dependable"; average r: mothers = .59; fathers = = .80; girls = .51.
.77. 2. Self-inadequacy: "Satisfied with self"
Exploitive (mother, father): "Overly demand- (reflected), "thin-skinned," "feels victimized,"
"brittle," and "fearful." Average r: boys = .58;
ing," "exploitive"; r: mothers = .66; fathers = .45.
girls = .62. Reliability coefficient (a): boys = .87;
Indifferent (mother, father): "Not responsivegirls = .88.
to child," "indifferent"; r: mothers = .68; fathers =
.73. 3. Social competence: "Arouses liking and ac-
ceptance," "gregarious," "social poise," "socially
These measures index parent attitudes toward perceptive," and "aloof (reflected). Average r:
the study child that became apparent in the laoys = .45; girls = .44. Reliability coefficient (a):
boys = .81; girls = .80.
course of interviews and observations. Thus,
for example, the rejecting index captures a
negative attitude of the parent toward the Self-other relations.A second ()-sort
child. (Block, 1971) for adolescents focused on inter-
personal behavior during the junior high
f The use of wife reports on father behav- school period (1933-1936). Differential asso-
ior could entail some bias in the measure- ciation with peers and adults, attitudes toward
V ments. For example, mothers may have pre- parents, and roles in the peer group are the
sented a consistently biased (favorable or concerns of this set of descriptive variables.
unfavorable) view of their husbands, thereby At least two judges rated each case, with a
infiating correlations among all family and mean interrater reliability of .75. We used two
parenting indicators. However, the correla- items that refer to attitudes toward father:
tions reported in Table 1 suggest that this was "perceives father as an attractive man," and
not the case in this sample. Had reliance on "feels father is a respected man as judged by
mothers' reports introduced this systematic social standards." Three additional items bear
bias, we would expect between-parent corre- on peer experience: "emphasizes being with
lations to be of the same magnitude as within- peers," "seeks reassurance from peers," and
parent correlations. But the former set of rela- "is dependent on peers." Each scale ranges
tionships is generally lower than within- from a score of 1 (extremely uncharacteristic)
parent correlations. to 9 (extremely characteristic).
Child Behavior Maternal ratings.A third source of in-
Aspects of a competent self.Utilizing formation on children's behavior comes from
the California Q-sort for the junior high school maternal reports in the 1936 interview.
period (1933-1936),^ we sought to charac- Mothers were asked to rate their children on a
terize adolescent functioning in terms of at set of behavioral attributes using a three-point
least three prominent elements of a compe- Likert scale to indicate frequency. Building
tent self (Coan, 1974; Smith, 1968): (1) goal upon prior analysis (Elder, 1974), we selected
directednessconcerted and satisfying ef- four scales: moody, easily hurt, calm, and
forts toward the achievement of goals; (2) a angry.
sense of self-worth and initiative, including
effective coping with life's problems; and (3) Attractiveness.Infonnation on chil-
social competencesocial skills, rewarding dren's appearance was obtained from obser-
associations, consideration of the needs of vational ratings made by staff members in a
others. Three item clusters bearing on these playground setting during semiannual visits
dimensions were identified from correlational to the Institute of Human Development
and factor analyses of ratings on boys and girls (1932-1936). The two or more staff members
(Elder, 1979): attending these sessions were well known to

' In the 100-item Galifomia ^-sort (Block, 1971), clinical judgments take into account the
relative salience of each item within aforcednormal distribution (nine categories) for each person.
The position of an item on the distribution indicates its salience as a descriptor of the individual
when compared to other items. AU ratingsforthe 100-item Galifomia Q-sort were made by profos-
sionally trained clinicians (at least two judges per case). The average composite interjudge reliability
for the Q-sort as a whole is .72.
366 Child Development
the children and related to them as interested,
friendly adults. Observations made during the
free-play sessions were recorded afterward on
comment sheets, and children were rated on a
number of seven-point scales (the ratings are
known as Free-Play Ratings). An overall in-
dex of physical attractiveness was derived by
averaging scores on the following interrelated
scales: attractive coloring, good features, good
physique, thin-to-fat, femininity/masculinity
of behavior and physique, pleasing expres-
sion, and sex appeal. Interrater reliabilities for
the junior high items were above .80. This
composite index has been used in prior re-
search (Elder, 1969, 1974) in the adolescent
experience and marital success of Oakland fe-
males.
Data Analysis
To investigate the infiuence of economic
deprivation on family relations and parenting
behavior, we begin with an examination of
correlations between these variables. The
next step focuses on the relationship of eco-
nomic hardship and parenting behavior to
measures of adolescent functioning during
the junior high school years. With regard to
the temporal sequence, measures of parenting
behavior (1931-1934) precede both the Q-sort
ratings (1933-1936) and maternal reports
(1936). Because we expected sex differences
to emerge in these data, separate correlations
cire reported for boys and girls. To test the
mediation hypothesis, path-analytic models
are used to examine the role of father behav-
ior in linking economic hardship to adoles-
cent fimctioning. Finally, to examine the con-
ditional hypothesis of physical attractiveness,
we compare the effect of^ economic hardship
on father's behavior in subgroups of attractive
and unattractive children and test for sig-
nificant differences in the regression slopes.
Before getting into the results, we stress
again our primary objective, that of investigat-
ing parental behavior in the Great Depression
as a link between economic hardship and
adolescent functioning. This perspective
clearly rules out a number of potentially re-
warding analyses from the behavioral conse-
quences of parental behavior to the effects of
parental behavior in both deprived and non-
deprived families. In time we shall explore
these domains as well.
Results
Economic Hardship, Parenting, and
Adolescent Behavior
Correlations between economic hardship
and measures of parental behavior are sum-
marized in Table 1. These correlations point
to the stronger connection between income
loss and father's behavior when compared to
mother's behavior and its correlates. Eco-
nomic loss is moderately linked to father's re-
jecting (r = .24), supportive (r = .23), and
indifferent (r = .17) behavior. By comparison,
none of these modes of parenting among
mothers is related to income loss (r's between
.01 and .02). The findings are consistent
with previous analyses of the Berkeley Guid-
ance cohort (birth years, 1928-1929; see El-
der, Liker, & Cross, 1984), and suggest that
economic loss adversely infiuenced family
frmctioning through its direct infiuence on
fathers' behavior. Economic hardship did not
generally affect mothers' parenting behavior.
Hence, in the analyses that follow we focus
on fathers as the primary link between De-
pression hardship and children's personal and
social functioning in adolescence.
The correlations in Table 2 relate eco-
nomic deprivation and father's rejecting be-
havior to all measures of adolescent function-
ing among boys and girls. Father's rejecting
behavior receives primary attention through-
out this analysis in order to permit compari-
sons with previous analyses of the younger
Berkeley cohort that employed similar mea-
sures (Elder, Caspi, & Downey, in press; El-
der, Liker, & Cross, 1984). Moreover, consis-
tent with findings from the Berkeley sample,
preliminary analyses suggested that rejecting
behavior is a critical variable linking eco-
nomic hardship to adolescent behavior. The
social change and child behavior correlates of
father's rejecting behavior are consistently
higher than those of father's indifferent, sup-
portive, and exploitive behavior.
Different pattems of association emerge
among boys and girls (Table 2). In the case of
adolescent boys, economic hardship is linked
to negative perceptions of father and to peer
dependence, as well as to modes of psycho-
logical distress. Depression losses diminished
the perceived attractiveness of fathers (r =
.40 and .49), while strengthening the ap-
peal of peers. Boys from deprived homes
were more likely to emphasize being with
peers (r = .27), to seek reassurance from
friends (r = .27), and to express dependence
on the peer group (r = .26). According to
mother's reports, boys from deprived families
were also moodier (r = .28), more likely to
have their feelings easily hurt (r = .33), to
anger easily (r = .19), and to be less calm (r =
.27). In theory, the rejecting behavior of
fathers should laear on each of these out-
comes, from psychological distress and the
devaluation of father to hurt feelings, anger.
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368 Chad Development
TABLE 2
SOME BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION AND FATHER'S REJECTING BEHAVIOR BY
SEX OF CHILD

CORRELATES OF:

Economic
MEANS BY Deprivation Father's Rejection
SEX OF CHILD (1929-1933) (1931-1934)
INDICATORS OF BEHAVIOR, Boys Cirls Boys Cirls Boys Cirls
JUNIOR HIGH PERIOD X X r r r r
Aspects of a competent self
(1933-1936) (range = 1-9):
Goal oriented 5.53 5.78 .14 -.26 .00 .41**
Self-inadequacy 5.50 5.12 .02 .23 .08 .38**
Social competence 5.27 6.27 .06 - .17 .06 .26 +
Self-other relations (1933-1936)
(1 = lo-w, 9 = high):
Father is attractive 5.78 5.64 - .40** - .06 .46** .36**
Father has social prestige 5.79 5.55 - .49** - .08 .50** .46**
Emphasizes being with peers 6.40 7.21 .27* .08 .14 .07
Seeks peer assurance 5.36 5.35 .27* .17 .20 .00
Dependent on peers 6.03 6.06 .26+ .18 .40* .01
Maternal reports (1936)
(1 = low, 3 = high):
Moody 1.53 1.54 .28* -.04 .01 .48**
Easily hurt 2.15 2.10 .33* .32* .13 ,30*
Calm 2.45 2.50 -.27+ -.03 ,03 .38*
Angry 1.89 1.75 .19+ .04 .15 .19
NOTE.The IV for boys ranges from 37 to 57; for girls from 38 to 55,
+ p < ,10,
*p< .05,
** p < .01,

and moodiness. However, with the exception ward boys during the early 1930s, t(119) =
of boys' negative perception of fathers, we 1.65, p = .10. In addition, the correlation be-
find little evidence of a relationship between tween economic hardship and father's reject-
father rejection and the behavior of adoles- ing behavior is higher for girls than boys (.25
cent boys in the hard-pressed 1930s. vs. .11, with social class partialed out). Judg-
ing from these differences, one might con-
In the case of adolescent girls, economic clude that the gender contrast stemmed from
hardship made little difference in how they adolescent girls who became more likely
felt about themselves or in how others de- targets of father's rejecting behavior and/or
scribed them. However, girls' behavior was from adolescent boys who were less accept-
strongly influenced by the rejecting behavior ing of such treatment than adolescent girls.
of father. The overall pattem is just the re- We know that hard times were conducive to
verse of findings on adolescent boys. The the prominence of wives and mothers in
daughters of rejecting fathers were less apt to household matters during the 1930s, but we
aspire toward high goals (r = .41), and they have no evidence from which to conclude
held a low opinion of themselves (r = .38, that such change increased the risk of daugh-
index of self-inadequacy). In addition, they ters from the frustrations and anger of a de-
were described by mothers as moodier (r = prived father.
.48), more easily slighted (r = .30), and less
calm (r = - .38). Whatever the causal mechanism, the
One possible explanation for this contrast findings reported in Table 2 are suggestive
between adolescent boys and girls is that of the hypothesized sex difference in family
father's rejecting behavior increased under mediation. Most of the correlations are consis-
hardship conditions only toward daughters. tent with a model in which family hardship
Indeed, mean scores suggest that fathers were increased the psychological distress of girls
slightly more rejecting toward girls than to- by increasing the rejecting behavior of
 Elder, Jr., Nguyen, and Caspi 369
TABLE 3
THE MEDIATING ROLE OF FATHERS: DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC
HARDSHIP ON CIRLS' SOCIAL-AFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR WITH SOCIAL CLASS, 1929,
CONTROLLED: REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS IN STANDARDIZED FORM

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Economic Father
Social Class Deprivation Rejecting
DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Mediating variable (1933-1934):

Father rejecting - .22 .25*
Child outcomes (1933-1936; 1936):
Father is attractive 16 .03 - .33**
Father has social prestige 56** .19 - .47**
Coal oriented 18 - .14 - .32*
Self-inadequacy 01 .03 .42*
Social competence .07 .00 .35*
Moody 14 - .18 .48**
Easily hurt -.08 .26+ .26 +
Calm 23 -.23 -.47**
Angry -.05 -.10 .23
NOTE,The coefficients presented in this table are the direct effects of the independent
variables on measures of girls' functioning. Indirect effects are computed by the product of the
coefEcients in the flrst row and the coefficients in the third column (see Fig, 1),
+ p < .10.
* p < ,05.
** p < .01.

fathers. However, more evidence on this
causal sequence and mediated influence is
needed in order to claim support for Hypoth-
eses 1 and 3.
Father's Influence on Daughters: A
Mediating Factor
We have discussed two causal paths be-
tween family hardships and the behavior of
girls. One involves a direct connection, while
the other operates through the rejecting be-
havior of fathers. For each outcome measure
on the total sample of adolescent girls, we
constructed a path-analytic model in which
economic deprivation and socied class in 1929
represent exogenous variables; they are not
explained by any other factor in the model.
The measure of father's rejecting behavior
represents a mediating variable, linking eco-
nomic misfortune and its pressures to girls'
attitudes and behaviors.^ Each model ad-
dressed two questions about the process by
which girls were influenced by family hard-
ship: Does father's rejecting behavior actually
mediate (indirect effect) the influence of hard
times in the family? And were there also di-
rect effects of economic hardship on adoles-
cent girls apart from its influence on fathers?
The standardized regression coefficients
from the path models are presented in Table
3. The findings suggest that economic hard-
ship adversely affected the behavior of girls
by influencing the rejecting behavior of
fathers. Drastic income loss heightened the
prospect of difficulties for girls in social and
psychological functioning, though only by en-
hancing the negative, rejecting tendencies of
fathers. By comparison, economic deprivation
had no significant effects on girls' functioning.
For illustrative purposes. Figure 1 pre-
sents one of the path models with a focus on
moody behavior. Coefficients above the path
arrow are derived from the model tested for
adolescent girls; coefficients below the path
arrow refer to those derived firom the compa-
rable model tested for boys. These results, as
do the remaining path models, suggest that
family mediation (indirect effect hypothesis)
holds only for adolescent girls. The behavior
of boys in the Great Depression was directly

^ Because we found no e-vidence for the influence of economic deprivation and fathers' behav-
ior on girls' peer group experiences, these measures were excluded from the analysis. This set of
path models was also tested on the sample of adolescent boys. However, as indicated by the zero-
order correlations in Table 2, no indirect efiFect could be detected because father's rejection does
not, in general, relate strongly to measures of boys' psychological functioning (see, e.g.. Fig. 1).
370 Child Development
Economic
Oeprlvation
.16
.37
Social CIa88,
1929
p * . 10
p * .05
p * .01
FIG. 1.The mediating role of fathers: path analysis predicting adolescents' moody behavior. Regres-
sion coefficients are in standardized form. Coefficients above the path arrow are for girls; below the path
Eirrow for boys.
affected by economic hardship; this relation-
ship was not mediated by the rejecting behav-
ior of father. Were deprived fathers most
likely to hold rejecting attitudes toward rela-
tively unattractive daughters?
Daughters' Attractiveness: A
Conditional Effect
The Depression experience was in large
measure a family experience for the Oakland
girls, but it may not have been the same,
whether negative or not, for all girls who grew
up in deprived families. Indeed, we have hy-
pothesized that relatively unattractive daugh-
ters were at greater risk of the rejecting be-
havior of deprived fathers than were attractive
girls. We know that physical attractiveness
made a difference in how the Oakland girls
felt about themselves and in how they in-
teracted with others. An early study of the
Oakland cohort (Elder, 1969) found that rela-
tively attractive girls were more likely to hold
a positive image of self and to marry well as
defined by their husbands' social status at
mid-life. They were more popular among age-
mates in secondary school and were per-
ceived as relatively feminine. Considering
these and other observations in the literature
(e.g., Sorell & Nowack, 1981), we assumed
that less attractive daughters would be more
likely to experience paternal rejection during
^ These equations were EJSO estimated for the entire sample of girls by entering an interaction
term into each model. Estimates of the interaction effects in these models were similar to those
obtained in our stratifying procedure.
R - . 1 3 / . 11 R - . 27/. 09
Moody, 1936
hard times than were attractive girls (Hy-
pothesis 2).
To investigate this conditional hy-
pothesis, we stratified the sample of Oakland
girls by a general index of physical attrac-
tiveness for the junior high school years
(1933-1936). In lieu of a pre-Depression mea-
sure, we used an index that corresponds with
the worst years of the 1930s. We find no evi-
dence that income loss diminished girls' rank-
ing on physical attractiveness (p = .06, with
social class controlled). For purposes of analy-
sis, girls were classified as "unattractive" if
their scores fell below the median; all other
girls were placed in the "attractive" category.
For each group, attractive and unattractive,
we estimated the effects of economic hard-
ship on father's behavior, with adjustments
for initial social class. Three measxires of
father behavior were included in the analysis:
rejecting, exploitive, and supportive. Paternal
indifference was excluded because it is so
highly correlated with rejection. The results,
along with t tests of the differences between
unstandardized regression coefficients in the
two groups (Cohen & Cohen, 1975), are pre-
sented in Table 4.^
As stated in Hypothesis 2, economic de-
privation is more predictive of the nonsuppor-
 Elder, Jr., Nguyen, and Caspi 371
TABLE 4
DEPRIVATION EFFECTS ON FATHER'S BEHAVIOR TOWARD DAUGHTER BY HER PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

ATTRACTIVE UNATTRACTIVE TESTS OF

{N = 29) {N = 26) INTERACTION
INDICATORS OF FATHER'S EFFECTS
BEHAVIOR, 1931-1934 r b p r b (t Ratios)
Rejecting behavior 07 .06 .06 .30 1.24 .33 1.81
Exploitive behavior^ - .30 - .67 - .46 .28 .37 .31 2.20*
Emotional support 10 .11 .08 - .43 -1.04 -.45 2.32*
" This model was estimated for unattractive girls with a subgroup N of 16.
* p < .05.

tive, rejecting, and exploitive behavior of
fathers when daughters were unattractive
than when they were attractive. With adjust-
ments for class origin, family hardship in-
creased fathers' rejecting behavior only when
daughters ranked low on physical attrac-
tiveness. The difference (p = .33 vs. .05 for
"attractive") is not statistically significant, al-
though it conforms with the initial hypothesis.
More powerful support comes from the rat-
ings of exploitive and supportive behavior. If
girls were unattractive, family hardship ac-
centuated fathers' overly demanding, exploi-
tive behavior (p = .31 vs. - .46, t = 2.20, p <
.05). In addition, such hardship diminished
father support only when daughters were
rated as unattractive (p = .45 vs. .08, t =
2.32, p < .05). Note that in two of the models
(for exploitive behavior and emotional sup-
port. Table 4) the signs of the coefficients are
reversed. Attractive girls were not only in-
sulated from the psychological costs of eco-
nomic hcirdship; in some cases, economic
deprivation actually increased the suppor-
tive and benign parenting qualities of their
fathers.*
If we applied this approach to Oakland
boys, would we find adverse paternal in-
fluences linked to their attractiveness?
Whether rejecting, exploitive, or supportive,
father-son relations in the Oakland sample
have little to do with whether these men were
economically deprived. The sons of deprived
men were less likely to think well of their
fathers, when compared to other boys, but we
cannot explain this association by reference to
the paternal behavior under study in this re-
search. However, it is conceivable that the
frustrations and harshness of deprived men
may have been focused on their less attractive
sons, as measured by physical attributes. Us-
ing the same measure of physical attrac-
tiveness in junior high, we divided the boys at
the median into relatively attractive and un-
attractive groups. The results of this design
showed no reliable group differences. We
also explored the implications of differential
height and rate of physical maturation among
boys for their relation with hard-pressed
fathers in the Depression. These results did
not alter the picture. The conditional effect is
restricted to adolescent girls.
Discussion
The three hypotheses of this study re-
ceive modest support from the analysis of
father's behavior in hard times and especially
in the lives of daughters.
1. The first issue concerns the role of par-
ent behavior in linking economic hardship
to children's lives. Economic loss among
families in the Oakland cohort increased the
psychological distress and self-inadequacy of
adolescents by increasing the risk of father's
rejecting behavior (Hypothesis 1). Such hard-
ship did not influence matemal behavior. As
discussed below, the sequence from eco-

'' The strength of this conditional outcome is especially noteworthy when we consider data
limitations, in particular, the heavy reliance on wives' reports for information regarding the behavior
of fathers. The Oakland fathers were not interviewed, whereas their wives were interviewed twice
during the period of economic hardship, 1932 and 1934. Whatever the full implications of this data
source, they are likely to work against the attractiveness effect. According to a variety of studies of
neglect and abuse in the family (e.g., Kadushin & Martin, 1981), the evidence suggests that wives
and modiers are apt to underreport the paternal abuse of children. If so, the link between Income
loss and father maltreatment among relatively unattractive daughters would represent an underesti-
mate of the actual causal relation.
372 Child Development
nomic hardship to paternal rejection and ado-
lescent functioning varied according to gen-
der and physical attractiveness.
2. The second issue concerns the differ-
ential role of father's rejecting behavior dur-
ing hard times among adolescent boys and
girls. The causal sequence from economic
hardship to the rejecting behavior of fafhers
and then to the social-affective behavior of
children emerged primarily among girls.
Family hardship heightened the peer orienta-
tion of boys and their devaluation of father,
but the behavior of deprived fathers generally
had limited influence on boys' functioning. In
this adolescent sample, father mediation of
economic hardship is restricted to the psycho-
logical functioning of girls (Hypothesis 3). In-
deed, income loss had no significant effects
on girls apart from such family mediation.
Several factors may account for gender
variations in the family-mediation hypothesis.
Perhaps because of their less imposing physi-
cal size and strength, adolescent girls may
have been a more likely target for father's hos-
tility in hard times. Indeed, findings from the
present study suggest that fathers were
slighdy more rejecting toward girls than to-
ward boys in hard-pressed families. This sen-
timent may pardy reflect a displaced resent-
ment conceming females over loss of male
status within the family.
Another explanation centers on the gen-
der roles of adolescents in economically de-
prived times. These may have had implica-
tions for girls' vulnerability within the family.
For example, adolescent girls in the Oakland
sample were called upon to assume major re-
sponsibilities within the household as their
mothers sought work. Adolescent boys, on
the other hand, were more likely to assume
paid jobs outside the home. Family change of
this sort enhanced the social and family inde-
pendence of boys, but for girls greater house-
hold involvement may have meant greater ex-
posure to family discord and tension. Perhaps
because of their increased involvement in
household affairs during hard economic
times, as well as their greater interpersonal
sensitivity, adolescent girls appear more
strongly influenced by father's negative be-
havior during hard times than boys. For boys,
however, the effects of economic deprivation
were seldom mediated by the behavior of
fathers.
These gender differences in adolescence
may be contrasted with findings on the family
mediation model tested with boys and girls in
the Berkeley cohort (e.g.. Elder, Liker, &
Cross, 1984), 7-8 years younger than their
Oakland counterparts. The Berkeley children
were less than 2 years old when the economy
collapsed, and they remained exclusively
within the family through the worst years of
that decade. In this sample, boys in early
childhood were more likely than girls to be
affected by family turmoil and punitive par-
enting in deprived families (Elder, 1979; see
also Elder, Caspi, & Van Nguyen, in press).
3. A third issue examined in this research
concerns child effects on parent behavior in
stressful times. Even with aversive families
and the most stressful experiences, some ado-
lescents came through unscathed. What is dif-
ferent about these children? What protective
factors or circumstances shielded fhem from
the adverse consequences of economic hard-
ship (Carmezy, 1981)? One factor involves
the observed difference between boys and
girls. Overall, adolescent girls appeared to be
more subject to rejection by deprived fathers
during the Creat Depression.
A second relevant source of vulnerability
or resourcefulness is the child's physical ap-
pearance. Following the literature on child
maltreatment and the social meaning of phys-
ical attributes, we expected the least attractive
adolescents to be at greater risk of patemal
maltreatment than attractive boys and girls
(Hypothesis 2). The data support this hy-
pothesis for girls. The physical attractiveness
of adolescent girls conditioned father's behav-
ior toward them in hard times. Deprived
fathers were more likely to reject unattractive
than attractive daughters, and, in fact, they
were actually more likely to be nurturant to-
ward attractive girls than nondeprived fathers.
Consistent with a social interactional per-
spective on family process (e.g., Patterson,
1983), these findings suggest that some char-
acteristics of children actually strengthened
the aversive behaviors of fathers in stressful
times. These findings underscore the impor-
tance of viewing the family's changing socio-
economic situation in relation to both the
child's characteristics and parent behavior
(Belsky, 1984; Ricciuti & Dorman, 1983).
Conclusion
The developmental implications of social
change can only be studied within a theoret-
ical framework that relates individual and
family change. Individuals are changed by
changing families, and families are changed
by changing the developmental course of
members (Elder, 1984, 1985). Both of these
processes are likely to emerge when the life-

course dynamics of families and individuals
are studied over time. A model of family
mediation typified the approach of Children
of the Great Depression, and the present
study builds on this work in at least two re-
spects. First, it does so by examining the be-
havior of fathers in linking economic stress to
children's experience.
Second, the present study explores
sources of variation in this causal process. The
initial study of Oakland children in the De-
pression era could only achieve a skeletal im-
age of Depression fathers, owing to data limi-
tations. Conceptual blinders at the time also
resulted in an understatement of children as
producers of their own socialization. In addi-
tion to their role in the family economy,
which the first study covered in detail, these
children also fared better or worse in the De-
pression regime of fathers for reasons linked
to gender and physical attractiveness.^
The rejecting behavior of fathers repre-
sents the connection between economic hard-
ship and children's lives more than the corre-
sponding behavior of mothers. Fathers are
prominent in our analysis of Depression
families, in part because economic misfortune
was typically the first-hand experience of
men. Their response to this loss intensified
the social consequences of economic loss. But
the full significance of father's behavior
emerges only when we consider the adoles-
cent roles of" girls and boys in the Oakland
cohort, as well as physical attractiveness. The
rejecting behavior of father is most strongly
linked to both economic deprivation and the
emotional disturbance of girls and especially
to those girls who were relatively unattrac-
tive. We believe this causal sequence has
much to do with the psychological vulnerabil-
ity of early adolescent girls to patemal
maltreatment and to the self-esteem costs of
social pressures in the larger social world of
peers and school (Simmons et al., 1979).
This study is responsive to a long-
standing criticism of purely descriptive re-
search on socioeconomic factors in the lives of
adults and children (Kohn, 1977). All too of-
ten, research proceeds no further than the
Elder, Jr., Nguyen, and Caspi 373
demonstration of a simple association be-
tween two variables that are assumed to be
ordered in a causal sequence. Literally hun-
dreds of studies have correlated measures of
socioeconomic status and change with indi-
cators of child behavior, leaving the analysis
at that point without the barest feature of an
interpretation or empirical test of linkages
(Bronfenbrenner & Crouter, 1983). In the
present research, the concept of" linkage
serves as a reminder of the connection be-
tween family income loss, on the one hand,
and children's social and emotional behavior
on the other.
As a whole, the results of this research
support a perspective on families and chil-
dren that locates them within the life course
and its age-graded tasks and experiences. The
ever-changing environment of developing in-
dividuals implies that risk factors should vary
in type and relative influence along the life
line. Indeed, family stresses appear to be
more pathogenic for boys than for girls in the
preschool years (Rutter & Madge, 1976),
whereas a contrasting sex difference is emerg-
ing in studies of early adolescence (Wemer &
Smith, 1982). Sensitivity to this complexity of
interactions among social, psychological, and
biological factors is consistent with Kagan's
(1979, p. 886) criticism of the search for "abso-
lute principles which declare that a particular
set of external conditions is inevitably associ-
ated with a fixed set of consequences for all
children." Extemal events, such as the Great
Depression, can affect older and younger chil-
dren, as well as parents, in different ways. An
understanding of these ways requires knowl-
edge of the life course.
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