Month-to-Month Income Volatility and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Extending the Family Stress Model to Include Youth Perspectives

• In Event: Understanding the Impacts of Environmental Unpredictability and Volatility on Typical and Atypical Development

Abstract

Introduction: Income volatility has doubled in the last 30 years for families in the U.S., a trend that has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, with unemployment rates potentially surpassing “Great Depression” era levels of joblessness. A growing literature has considerable implications of household income volatility on youth psychosocial development, documenting links between income losses and both levels and trajectories of problem behaviors. For example, recent work in a nationally representative dataset of 10,900 children found that year-to-year income losses increased the likelihood that children would follow trajectories of increasing or stably high levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior from kindergarten through 5th grade (Miller & Votruba-Drzal, 2017). However, studies of income volatility are characterized by two major limitations. First, family income volatility tends to be assessed on large time scales, drawing data on income annually or biennially and ignoring month-to-month fluctuations in family income, which may be more psychologically-relevant for parents and youth. Second, current investigations have not delineated the underlying developmental processes driving associations between family income volatility and youth psychosocial development. Past research grounded in the family stress model suggests that income volatility shapes important family processes, affecting feelings of parental distress, parenting practices, and in turn youth behavioral development. Yet, this work ignores that youth are becoming increasingly aware of family economic circumstances and parental financial stress, and youths’ perceptions of these circumstances may shape their behavioral functioning.

Hypotheses: Month-to-month income volatility will impact youth’s psychosocial development through increases in perceptions of economic hardship and stress. Higher volatility will relate to greater perceptions of hardship and stress, as well as more youth behavioral problems.

Study Population: Data is drawn from the Family Income Dynamics study (FInD) – an ongoing 9-month longitudinal study of a large, racially and socioeconomically-diverse cohort of youth (ages 13-16 years; N=85) and their parents.

Methods: To overcome the limitations of past work, families completed dense sampling (every month) of economic circumstances, family processes, and youth perceptions of hardship. Parents answered detailed questions on their monthly income from various sources. Adolescents reported on their problem behaviors using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to understand behavioral problems. The Perceived Stress Scale measured distress in parents and youth. Additionally, 13 items drawn from the work of Conger and colleagues were administered to parents and youth to assess financial hardship.

Results: Preliminary individual fixed-effects models, which compare individuals to themselves over time to address concerns of omitted variable bias, revealed significant associations between month-to-month income changes and changes in youth problem behaviors (B=-.028, p< .001), with income increases relating to reductions in problem behaviors. Monthly income was associated with youth reports of economic hardship (B=-.056, p< .05) and parents reports of perceived stress (B=-.09, p< .001) as well, such that increases in family income predict reductions in hardship and perceived stress. Moving forward, this study will perform formal tests of mediation to examine whether the parent and youth processes are pathways through which monthly income shapes youth psychosocial development.

Authors

• Portia Miller, University of Pittsburgh
  Presenting Author

• Daniesha S. Hunter-Rue, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nabila Jamal-Orozco, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jamie L Hanson, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author