Coping with Economic Stress: A Test of Deterioration and Stress-Suppressing Models

Economic stress exacts many social and psychological costs on the quality of individual and family life. This study examined the relationships between objective economic stressors, personal and social coping resources, and financial strain. Two waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) were used to examine variations in the cultural utilization patterns of coping resources among whites (n=4,943), blacks (n=999), and Latinos (n=374). Structural equation modeling tested two competing models of the stress process from the life stress paradigm—the deterioration and stress-suppressing models. The stress-suppressing model was minimally supported; only one coping resource, self-efficacy, confirmed the hypothesized paths. The simultaneous paths hypothesized in the deterioration model were not supported; however, the model fit allowed group comparisons. Markedly different patterns emerged among the subsamples for personal (self-efficacy, savings behavior, bill management) and social (instrumental family support, expressive family support, and community integration) coping resources, and associations with economic stress and financial strain, providing implications for financial therapists and professionals

Financial Management and Marital Quality: A Phenomenological Inquiry

This study explores the link between couples’ financial management practices and their marital quality through qualitative inquiry. Six couples in their first marriage with at least one child age 18 or younger were interviewed to understand how the couples’ financial histories affect their current approach to financial management and how their financial management affects their relationships. Using Couples and Finances Theory as a conceptual framework, this phenomenological study investigates the connection between financial history, approach to financial management, and marital quality to offer implications for financial counselors and therapists. The ways couples manage their finances are diverse, as are the impacts on their relationships. Couples’ financial histories lead to diverse management processes influenced by financial stressors, communication, and shared values. Financial therapists and counselors should recognize that each person’s financial history affects the way they think about money, which can affect their ability to communicate about finances with a partner. Therapists can build on the experiences of couples reporting in this study to help alleviate financial stress, improve financial relationships, and ultimately enhance marital quality

Sources of Referral in Student Financial Counseling

This study evaluates sources of referral to financial counseling and varied declines in financial stress across the financial counseling process. College students came to counseling most often through self-referral. Younger students and women were more likely to respond to institutional referrals. There were two clearly discernable periods of decline in financial stress, smaller interim declines occurring after requesting appointments and larger declines that occurred in counseling sessions. The interim declines, however, were only operative for those who were self- or institutionally-referred and not for those who entered on a social-referral. A possible explanation is that social-referrals have already had “someone to talk to” whereas other referrals may only begin to feel a psychological burden lifted after making an appointment. Total declines in financial stress were mostly impervious to individual differences and sources of referral lending support to the notion that financial counseling itself contributed to aggregate declines in financial stress

Financial Management and Marital Quality: A Phenomenological Inquiry

This study explores the link between couples’ financial management practices and their marital quality through qualitative inquiry. Six couples in their first marriage, with at least one child age 18 or younger, were interviewed to understand how the couples’ financial histories affect their current approach to financial management, and how their financial management affects their relationships. Using Couples and Finances Theory as a conceptual framework, this phenomenological study investigates the connection between financial history, approach to financial management, and marital quality to offer implications for financial counselors and therapists. The ways couples manage their finances are diverse, as are the impacts on their relationships. Couples’ financial histories lead to diverse management processes influenced by financial stressors, communication, and shared values. Financial therapists and counselors should recognize that each person’s financial history affects the way they think about money, which can affect their ability to communicate about finances with a partner. Therapists can build on the experiences of couples reporting in this study to help alleviate financial stress, improve financial relationships, and ultimately enhance marital quality

College Student Debt and Anticipated Repayment Difficulty

This study analyzes factors associated with anticipated difficulty with repayment of debt accumulated during college using a basic model of credit risk that includes socialization processes influencing college student financial decisions. The empirical analysis uses data from the 2010 Ohio Student Financial Wellness Study. Results provide evidence of male overconfidence in financial decision making, as males are less likely than females to predict repayment difficulties. Socialization process variables, including financial management practices, financial parenting communication, and expected economic returns from education, are strongly associated with anticipated debt repayment difficulty. Inclusion of these process variables in the model results in loss of explanatory power of many of the traditional individual success variables, such as grade point average, and graduation plans

An Analysis of Aging-Related Needs and Programming Across the Extension North Central Region

As the U.S. population ages, Extension\u27s need for associated organizational readiness increases. We conducted a needs assessment with a sample of 1,028 Extension professionals in the Extension North Central Region (NCR) to identify the current scope of aging-related community needs. Health care, chronic disease prevention and management, housing, and transportation emerged from qualitative analysis as top aging-related needs. A rank-order analysis identified finances, healthy aging, and aging-friendly communities as chief community concerns. Additionally, the NCR Extension professionals indicated the importance of resources and programs and need for community capacity building related to aging issues, regardless of their programming area and/or responsibilities