C D M H

Economic Influences on Socioemotional
Adaptation during Adolescence

PI: Vonnie McLoyd, Ph.D.
Co-Investigators: Sandra Hofferth, Ph.D.
Jacquelynne Eccles, Ph.D.

This project seeks to determine the conditions under which economic stress affects adolescents' socioemotional functioning. Our aims are to evaluate a model of the effects of economic hardship on children's socioemotional adjustment as mediated by parents' childrearing behavior. This model hypothesizes that (a) economic hardship adversely affects adolescent socioemotional functioning through its negative effects on parents' childrearing behavior; (b) childrearing behavior is a function of parents' mental health; and (c) parents' mental health is adversely affected by economic hardship through perceived financial strain.

We will examine the replicability of the model using data from five samples of adolescents living in families that vary in race, structure, and economic status. The samples are drawn from (a) Flint, MI, (b) Philadelphia, PA, (c) Prince George's County (PGC), MD, and (d) Milwaukee, WI. The fifth sample is from the nationally representative Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).

Building on the unique strengths of each of these data sets, we also will test extensions of this basic mediational model to identify factors that temper or accentuate the link between economic hardship and adolescent mental health. Specifically, we will (a) assess the influence of other social, behavioral, and cognitive factors as mediators of the effects of economic hardship, including adolescents' perception of financial strain, adolescents' explanations of poverty, negative life events, and peer interactions; (b) examine race, family structure, peer, community context, and other factors as moderators of the influences of family-level economic hardship and. In addition, we will determine the long-term mental health consequences of economic- related experiences at home, at school, and among peers during the early adolescent years by designing and implementing during the 3rd and 4th project year a follow-up of the PGC sample of adolescents when they are young adults.