The Pains of Parenting: The Importance of Perceived Financial Strain and Parental Mental Health

• In Event: 3157 - Neglected Topics in Mental Health Research

Abstract

Parenthood is one of the few adult roles that is not associated with a mental health advantage. Previous research has established that parents report higher distress than non-parents and that parents in certain conditions, such as single parents, report very high levels of distress. Less research has focused on economic conditions as critical determinants of parents’ mental health and whether economic strain is a primary mechanism in the distress parents report. In this paper, I seek to clarify the relationship between parenthood and depressive symptoms by investigating how this relationship is moderated by perceptions of financial strain using a nationally representative sample of adults ages 18-35 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 – Young Adult Sample. Drawing on role theory, I argue that parents experiencing financial burdens will report greater depressive symptoms because of their inability to successfully meet role demands. The analyses demonstrate that parent generally report greater depressive symptoms compared to non-parents. However, I find that the relationship between parent status and depressive symptoms is qualified by perceptions of financial strain. Parents who report greater levels of perceived financial strain have worse mental health than parents reporting little to no perceptions of financial strain and the negative mental health effects of experiencing financial strain is substantially worse for parents than non-parents. These findings suggest that parents may be especially vulnerable to the detrimental effects of perceiving financial strain because the likely impact this has on their ability to perform role functions.

Author

• Ashleigh Rene Hope, Vanderbilt University