Families facing poverty: Challenges to parent mental health, parenting, and adolescent adjustment.

Abstract

This study tested the links between a variety of indicators of economic hardship and parent mental distress, parenting behaviors (parent management and involvement in children's lives), and adolescent adjustment (problem behavior and academic performance) in a sample of 352 low- to moderate-income mothers of early adolescents in inner-city Philadelphia. The sample was predominantly Black and living in non-intact family structures. Approximately one-quarter of the sample had incomes below the official poverty line. The average age of the adolescents in the sample was 13.5 years. The indicators of economic hardship in the study included family cutbacks in expenses, non-intact family structure, unemployment status, poverty status, recency and duration of welfare receipt, and mothers' family of origin socioeconomic status. Moderating effects of parent race and availability of social support were also tested. Multiple regression analyses revealed that family cutbacks in expenses and current short-term welfare receipt are the only indicators of economic hardship related to mothers' mental distress. Family cutbacks in expenses are negatively related to parent involvement and adolescent academic performance. Parent involvement fully mediates the negative association between cutbacks in expenses and academic performance. Non-intact family structure is related to parent management behaviors and both adolescent outcome measures. The positive association between non-intact family structure and adolescent problem behavior is mediated by parent management behaviors. Hierarchical multiple regression testing the predictive power of non-intact family structure versus income-specific hardship (cutbacks in expenses, poverty status, ever-welfare status) indicated that income-specific hardship (but not family structure) is related to mothers' mental distress, parent involvement, and adolescents' academic performance with both predictors in the regression equation. Conversely, family structure (but not income-specific hardship) is related to parent management behaviors and adolescent problem behavior with both predictors in the regression equation. Race of the mother moderated some of the effects of economic hardship on parent outcomes. Support from neighbors was beneficial only for those families not experiencing extreme economic hardship. The availability of community programs decreased the well-being of families experiencing extreme economic hardship. Results are discussed from the perspective of developmental psychology and public policy.