"Being married or having the support of neighbors to rely on does little to alleviate the symptoms of depression associated with economic hardship often experienced by poor mothers. With these findings, published in Springer's American Journal of Community Psychology, Sharon Kingston of Dickinson College in the US challenges the growing perception that marriage and other forms of interpersonal support can buffer the negative effects of poverty....
"Financial strain measures the inability to afford necessities. Being unable to successfully provide needed resources to their children can be stressful to mothers. Likewise, the socio-economic status of a neighborhood can also be acutely stressful to them because of high levels of crime and poor quality recreation, school and childcare options....
"Risks related to economic adversity will in all likelihood not be mitigated by efforts to bolster interpersonal support such as marriage support programs targeted to low-income parents," concludes Kingston. "Interventions that directly target economic conditions at the family or neighborhood level may be more likely to have positive effects on a mother's well-being."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-10-pain-poverty-neighbors-spouses.html
Kingston, S. (2013). Economic Adversity and Depressive Symptoms in Mothers: Do Marital Status and Perceived Social Support Matter? American Journal of Community Psychology, Abstract.
Short on time? Use our Category Search page.
Comments (0)