Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Pittman, Laura

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

The Family Stress Model (FSM) offers an understanding of the complex relationship between economic hardship and child outcomes through a number of parent factors (e.g., psychological functioning) and parenting practices; however, additional variables of influence were considered within this framework, as a way to fully encapsulate the processes within the family and neighborhood contexts that influence child psychological functioning. Using the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, formerly called Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a sample of primarily low-income, single-parent households, the present study examined the FSM in relation to adolescent externalizing and internalizing psychological outcomes. Additionally, this study sought to understand the role of maternal impulsivity as a mediator and neighborhood collective efficacy as a moderator within the model. Structural equation models were run using the lavaan package in RStudio and fit indices were assessed to determine if the FSM continued to work well in explaining how economic hardship influences adolescent psychological outcomes. While model fit was inadequate as measured by various fit statistics, the significant pathways within the FSM offered support for the indirect link between early economic hardship and adolescent externalizing behaviors, but not internalizing symptoms, through parenting stress and harsh parenting, sequentially. The addition of maternal impulsivity to the FSM did not improve model fit, as indicated by fit statistics. This model did not offer support for the indirect link between maternal impulsivity and adolescent psychological outcomes through harsh parenting and parental warmth. Further, the addition of neighborhood collective efficacy as a moderator between parenting and adolescent outcomes did not demonstrate good fit. Neighborhood collective efficacy did not moderate the link between parenting and adolescent psychological outcomes. Efforts were made to improve model fit by examining all hypothesized models with a single latent construct of broad adolescent psychological symptoms, examining all hypothesized models separately with externalizing and internalizing latent constructs, and finally, examining all hypothesized models with adolescent externalizing and internalizing composite scores. While fit statistics were poor for all hypothesized models, the significant pathways within the models offered some support for the FSM model.

Extent

156 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS