Surviving poverty: stress and coping in the lives of housed and homeless mothers.
Stress, coping, and depressed mood were examined in a sample of 64 homeless mothers and a comparison group of 59 housed low-income mothers. Homeless mothers reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression, as well as greater use of avoidant and active-cognitive coping strategies, than did the housed mothers. Within-group analyses revealed an association between greater use of avoidant strategies and higher levels of reported depression for both groups. Implications for research and program development are discussed.
Banyard
V L
VL
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA.
Graham-Bermann
S A
SA
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016387:Women's Health