Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/353006?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms
National Council on Family Relations is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access
to Journal of Marriage and Family
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
DAVID T. TAKEUCHI University of California, Los Angeles
This study examines the relationship between two Early community surveys consistently demon-
measures of economic stress-welfare status and strated that adults in the lower socioeconomic
perceived financial stress-and children's emo- status (SES) groups had higher levels of psycho-
tional and behavioral problems. Longitudinal logical distress than adults in other SES categories
data from the National Survey of Children are (Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend, 1969; Langer
used to test two hypotheses. The first hypothesisand Michael, 1963; Leighton, Harding, Macklin,
MacMillan, Leighton, 1963; Myers, Lindenthal,
predicts that economic stress will adversely affect
children's emotional and behavioral problems.Pepper, and Ostrander, 1974; Srole, Langer, Mi-
Levels of depressive symptoms, impulsive behav- chael, Opler, and Rennie, 1962). These studies
provided indirect evidence that economic factors
ior, and antisocial behavior are found to be higher
among children who experienced either form can of have pernicious consequences for the mental
economic stress at least once between 1976 and health of adults. Brenner's (1973) ecological
1981 compared to those who were unaffected analyses by of the relationship between economic in-
economic stress. The second hypothesis predicts dicators and measures of mental health found in-
that the presence of economic stress at both data creased rates of suicide, new admissions to psy-
collection points will have a more adverse impact chiatric institutions, and alcohol-related diseases
than economic stress experienced at only one time during periods of economic decline. Despite
point. Results provide only limited support for methodological
the problems with ecological studies
persistence hypothesis. Research is needed to (Marshall and Funch, 1979), Brenner's research
identify the specific processes by which economic provided the impetus for studies on the effects of
stress affects children's well-being. economic variables, particularly unemployment,
on mental health (Boor, 1980; Catalano and
Dooley, 1977; Cohn, 1978; Feather and Barber,
1983; Gore, 1978; Kasl and Cobb, 1979; Oliver
and Pomicter, 1981; Shepherd and Barraclough,
National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health, 1980).
UCLA, Franz Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1563.
Research on the health consequences of chron-
*Department of Sociology, Yale University, P.O. Box 1965, ic stress also suggests that chronic economic fac-
Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520. tors are a source of ongoing stress (Pearlin, Men-
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1032 Journal of Marriage and the Family
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic Stress and Children's Problems 1033
The second
nonwelfare children had higher measure used
levels of inanxiety,
this study is
perceived
compulsivity, and conflict with financial stress. In contrast
parents and sib- to the
lings. After five years, children from
welfare status measure, whichwelfare
focuses on persons
families had higher ratesat of
the bottom of the SES strata,
identified perceived stress
problem
includes people
behavior. Among the welfare at other children
sample, income levels whoin see
families that exited welfare showed less behavioral themselves unable to fulfill their economic
difficulties than children in long-term welfare responsibilities adequately. This includes families
families. This study suggests that long-term in the middle class who do not qualify for many
welfare parents are under economic stress that government programs but find it difficult to make
severely affects their mental and physical health, ends meet. The consequences of stress may be
marriage, and parental behavior. These factors, in dependent on the extent to which a potential
turn, may affect the behavior and emotional stressor is perceived as aversive (Lazarus and
health of their children. Folkman, 1984). The objective financial condition
This study extends Eisenberg's analyses by us- may not be as important as the subjective percep-
ing a national household sample of children and tion of economic stress. Perceived financial stress
their families. We investigate the impact of pover- has been used as a predictor of adult psychologic-
ty and perceived financial stress, two related but al distress (see, for example, Pearlin et al., 1981),
distinct facets of economic stress, on the mental but the association with children's mental health
health of children. Poverty is an objective assess- has not received sustained research inquiry. It
ment of economic stress that takes into account seems reasonable that perceived stress would be
the demands placed on a family's financial re-related to children's mental health, since adults
sources. Perceived stress, on the other hand, is a
under perceived financial stress are more likely to
subjective measure of economic stress. Usingreport symptoms of depression or distress, which
longitudinal data from the National Survey of may, in turn, affect the emotional health of their
Children (NSC), we examine whether the persis- children.
tence of economic stress is related to children's This study tests two specific hypotheses:
mental health. 1. Economic stress adversely affects children's
The receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent emotional and behavioral problems. We will
Children (AFDC), otherwise known as welfare, is examine the extent to which poverty and
our measure of poverty. Almost by definition, perceived financial stress have deleterious ef-
AFDC recipients have less than a minimum fects on children's problems.
amount of the economic resources that are ade- 2. The persistence of economic stress has a
quate to meet the daily demands of living. In the greater effect on children's emotional and
United States, the poverty threshold is created by behavioral problems than does stress that is
multiplying by three the minimum amount neces- transistory in nature.
sary to obtain a low-cost nutritious diet-a for-
mula based on the assumption that food repre- METHODS
sents one-third of the expenditures of a low-in-
come family (Norris, 1984). In more than half of This article uses data from the NSC, a national
all states, the total monthly AFDC benefits are longitudinal study that collected physical and
mental health data on children. The target popu-
less than half of the figure at the official poverty
line (Burwell and Rymer, 1987). While not all lation for the NSC 1976 study was all children,
poor people receive welfare payments, welfare re- 7-11 years of age, living in households in the 48
cipients represent a socially defined category of contiguous states. The sampling was designed to
people in economic need. The receipt of welfare yield approximately 500 interviews with black
may also affect the nature of interaction with children and 1,500 with nonblack children. A
others. The general public and welfare recipients total of 2,193 households containing one or more
themselves attach a stigma to the receipt of wel- eligible children was located and interviews were
fare (Bennett, 1987; Coser, 1965). In addition, completed with 2,279 children in 1,747 house-
welfare programs may create dependency and re- holds, representing an 80% response rate. The
duced levels of social support in welfare families eligible child and the adult who was most capable
(Comer and Hill, 1985). of providing information about the child, usually
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1034 Journal of Marriage and the Family
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic Stress and Children's Problems 1035
TABLE 2. MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS FOR
Two MEASURES OF ECONOMIC STRESS
Type of Symptoms
Impulsive Antisocial Depressive
Variable Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Welfare status
Nonwelfare 2.15 1.78 1.14* 1.50 1.19 1.58
Entered 2.29 1.71 1.46* 1.52 1.33 1.36
Exited 2.38 1.64 1.45* 1.65 1.34 1.47
Persistent 2.76 1.51 2.27 1.54 1.77 1.51
Perceived financial stress
No stress 2.12 1.78 1.06* 1.47 1.06* 1.47
Entered 2.24 1.70 1.28* 1.42 1.33* 1.45
Exited 2.35 1.63 1.45 1.62 1.52 1.70
Persistent 2.36 1.81 1.63 1.80 1.50 1.74
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1036 Journal of Marriage and the Family
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic Stress and Children's Problems 1037
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1038 Journal of Marriage and the Family
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic Stress and Children's Problems 1039
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
1040 Journal of Marriage and the Family
Hetherington, E. M. 1979. "Divorce: A child's per- Norris, Pippa. 1984. "Women in poverty: Britain
spective." American Psychologist 34: 851. and America." Social Policy 14: 41-43.
House, James, Victor Strecher, Helen Metzner, and Office of Technological Assessment. 1986. Children's
Cynthia Robbins. 1986. "Occupational stress and Mental Health: Problems and Services. Washington,
health among men and women in Tecumseh County DC: Congress of the United States.
health study." Journal of Health and Social Be- Ogbu, John. 1978. Minority Education and Caste: The
havior 27: 62-77. American System in Cross-cultural Perspective. New
Institute of Medicine. 1989. Research on Children York: Academic Press.
and Adolescents with Mental, Behavioral and Oliver,
Devel- J. M., and C. Pomicter. 1981. "Depression
opmental Disorders: Mobilizing a National Initia- in automotive assembly line workers as a function of
tive. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. unemployment variables." American Journal of
Kasl, Stanislav. 1983. "Pursuing the link between Community Psychology 9: 507-512.
stressful life experiences and disease: A time for re- Pearlin, Leonard I., and Morton A. Lieberman. 1979.
appraisal." Pp. 79-102 in C. L. Cooper (ed.), Stress "Social resources of emotional distress." Pp. 217-
Research. New York: Wiley and Sons. 248 in Roberta Simmons (ed.), Research in
Kasl, Stanislav, and S. Cobb. 1979. "Some mental Community Mental Health (Vol. 1). Greenwich,
health consequences of plant closings and job loss." CT: JAI Press.
In L. A. Ferman and J. P. Gordus (eds.), Mental Pearlin, Leonard I., Elizabeth G. Menaghan, Mor-
Health and the Economy. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. ton A. Lieberman, and Joseph T. Mullan. 1981.
Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. "The stress process." Journal of Health and Social
Kessler, Ronald C., Richard Price, and Camille Wort- Behavior 22: 337-356.
man. 1985. "Social factors in psychopathology: Pelton, L. H. 1981. The Social Context of Child
Stress, social support, and coping processes." An- Abuse and Neglect. New York: Human Services
nual Review of Psychology 36: 531-572. Press.
Kohn, Melvin. 1969. Class and Conformity: A Study in Peterson, James L., and Nicholas Zill. 1986. "Marital
Values. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press. disruption, parent-child relationships, and behavior
Langer, Thomas S., and Stanley T. Michael. 1963. problems in children." Journal of Marriage and the
Life Stress and Mental Health. New York: Free Family 48: 295-307.
Press. Rutter, Michael. 1980. Changing Youth in a Changing
Lazarus, Richard S., and Susan Folkman. 1984. Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer. Sameroff, A. J., R. Seifer, and M. Zax. 1982. Early
Leighton, Dorothea C., John S. Harding, David B. Development of Children at Risk for Emotional Dis-
Macklin, Allister M. MacMillan, and Alexander H.orders. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, for
Leighton. 1963. The Character of Danger: Psychi- the Society for Research in Child Development.
atric Symptoms in Selected Communities. New Shepherd, D. M., and B. M. Barraclough. 1980. "Work
York: Basic Books. and suicide: An empirical investigation." British
Levy, Frank. 1975. How Big is the American Under- Journal of Psychiatry 136: 469-478.
class? Working Paper No. 0090-1. Washington,Srole, DC: Leo, Thomas S. Langer, Stanley T. Michael,
Urban Institute. Marvin K. Opler, and Thomas A. C. Rennie. 1962.
Maddala, G. S. 1983. Limited-Dependent and Qualita- Mental Health in the Metropolis: The Midtown
tive Variables in Econometrics. Cambridge: Cam- Manhattan Study. New York: McGraw-Hill.
bridge University Press. U.S. House of Representatives, Select Committee on
Marshall, James P., and Donna P. Funch. 1979. "Men- Children, Youth and Families. 1989. U.S. Children
tal illness and the economy: A critique and partial and Their Families: Current Conditions and Recent
replication." Journal of Health and Social Behavior Trends, 1989. Washington, DC: Government Print-
20: 282-289. ing Office.
Williams, David. 1990. "Socioeconomic differentials
Miller, S.M. 1964. "The American lower class: A typo-
in health: A review and redirection." Social Psy-
graphical approach." Sociology and Social Research
48: 1-22. chology Quarterly 53: 81-99.
Williams, David R., and James House. 1991. "Stress,
Mirowsky, John, and Catherine E. Ross. 1986. "Social
patterns of distress." Annual Review of Sociologysocial support, control, and coping." In Ilona Kick-
12: 23-45. busch and Bernhard Badura (eds.), An Introduction
to Health Promotion Research. Geneva: World
Myers, Jerome K., Jacob Lindenthal, Max P. Pepper,
Health Organization.
and David R. Ostrander. 1974. "Social class, life
Wilson, Julius. 1987. The Truly Disadvantaged: The In-
events, and psychiatric symptoms: A longitudinal
ner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chi-
study." Pp. 191-206 in Barbara S. Dohrenwend and
cago: University of Chicago Press.
Bruce P. Dohrenwend (eds.). Stressful Life Events:
Their Nature and Effects. New York: Wiley.
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Economic Stress and Children's Problems 1041
APPENDIX
This content downloaded from 103.231.241.233 on Sun, 22 Jan 2017 18:19:39 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms