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.
Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA.
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Banyard
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Graham-Bermann
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