Alyssa DeitchmanDepartment of Applied Psychology

New York University

Dr. Elise Cappella

Dr. Gigliana Melzi

Dr. Adina Schick

Ha Yeon Kim

Daisy Jackson

Kristin Lees

Project Friend Research Team

High unemployment

70% of parents of college students report feelings of anxiety over economy

College tuition increasing rapidly 70.5% of students experience debt

Class of 2010 9.1% unemployment

Fetterman, 2008; Hogwharter, 2009; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011

Generally understood as a static variable

Often used as an independent variable to predict outcomes

Thus, after an economic shock, income might be a dynamic variable

Luo, 2009; Teevam, 1995

IncomeIncome

Occupation

Occupation

EducationEducation

Socioeconomic Status

Socioeconomic Status

Household economic shock is defined as “an unexpected and substantial variation in household resources.”

Lam & Leibbrant (2005), p. 325; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012

Children and adolescents as population of focus

◦ Mental health outcomes

Academic experiences and expectations not explored

Emerging adulthood new and relatively unexplored developmental period

•Stressed parents will not be able to provide emotional support

•Loss of respect for parents due to income loss

Fewer Educational Resources

Fewer Educational Resources

•Tuition rates may force these students to take out loans

•May need a part-time job

•May have to delay graduation time

Questioning Future

Questioning Future

• Students’ understanding of their future is influenced by parents’ position

•Lowering of academic and/or personal goal aspirations

•Gender differences exist

•Economic hardship for females is directly associated with lowered feelings of agency more so than males

•Females report more feelings of insecurity around economic loss

Caspi & Van Nguyen, 1985; Elder 1974; Lempers, 1989

Family StrainsFamily Strains Self EsteemSelf Esteem

Conger, 2008

Responses to economic difficulties are mediated by many contextual variables:

◦ Social support

◦ Intelligence

◦ Age

◦ Gender

◦ Temperament

How their family responds to economic shock influences adults’ adaptation and coping to the situation more significantly than other contexts

Elder, 1974; McLoyd, 1989

IntrapersonalIntrapersonal

AcademicAcademic

InterpersonalInterpersonal Explored three domains of

college students

IntrapersonalIntrapersonal

AcademicAcademic

InterpersonalInterpersonal Explored three domains of

college students

Investigated how economic shock affects these three interconnected domains

Used qualitative methods to understand the experiences of college students who have undergone an economic shock

Household Economic Shock

1. How does household economic shock relate to students’ self-concept, agency, and identity?

2. In what ways do students perceive that their experience of economic shock relate to their friendships and social relationships?

3. How does household economic shock relate to students’ perceptions of their ability to achieve present and future academic goals?

StressorsStressors

Emotional Distress

FamilyStrain

Peer Strain

CopingStrategies

CopingStrategies

Questioning Future

Increased Motivation

Recruited full-time NYU students

Eligibility screener assessed level of economic shock

• Answer “yes” to 4 out of 5 prompts

7 responded

• All female

• 6 seniors (21), 1 junior (20)

• 5 White students, 1 Asian and 1 Hispanic

Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997

A priori ideas established

about domains expected to emerge in interviews

Independent review of

transcripts (except 2) to confirm and

adjust domains

Independent cross analyses

followed by research team

consensus ratings

Stability check (final 2

transcripts) to ensure that the

domains accurately

reflect the data

‣ Categories: General (applicable to all cases) Typical (applicable to many cases)

Semi-structured interviews used to confirm or disconfirm domains expected to emerge

In-depth interviewing technique focusing on individual experiences

Iterative process

IntrapersonalIntrapersonal

GuiltGuilt

AnxietyAnxiety

Shame

InterpersonalInterpersonal

Family StrainsFamily Strains

Peers

CopingCoping

RationalizationRationalization

Compromising Compromising

Increased Motivation

Self-Reliance and Efficacy

Re-Evaluating Values

Re-Evaluating Values

“I’ve been having so many panic attacks about paying for graduate school because once I graduate I’m going to have to pay for it myself and ease the burden off my parents”

“I’ve been having so many panic attacks about paying for graduate school because once I graduate I’m going to have to pay for it myself and ease the burden off my parents”

IntrapersonalIntrapersonal

AnxietyAnxiety

Shame

GuiltGuilt

“My sister was not getting paid by my dad because they were trying to get money back to its investors, so she’s basically still in DA, which is debtor’s anonymous…she decided to leave the company and then basically it went bankrupt last year. So, yeah, my sister now is way better but she had to seek help outside because it was hard for her to deal with my parents.”

InterpersonalInterpersonal

Family StrainsFamily Strains

Peers

“I think this experience has made me more motivated to be successful and make sure I have a plan that I’m actually going to do something. I have no intention of moving back in with my parents. In that way it has made me much more motivated. I think also this has given me a lot of work experience because I’ve had to work, so I think that benefited me in the long run because I have a lot more experience when applying to grad school and for jobs, I have a lot more experience than a typical undergrad would.”

CopingCoping

RationalizationRationalization

Compromising Compromising

Increased Motivation

Self-Reliance and Efficacy

Re-Evaluating Values

Re-Evaluating Values

Intrapersonal:

‣ Initial stress associated with economic shock‣ Anxiety provoking‣ Questioning future

Interpersonal:

‣ Family strains more prevalent than peer strains

Coping:

‣ Accommodative coping‣ Compromising lifestyle as way of confronting

economic situation‣ Increased efficacy and motivation not generalizable to

sample

Intrapersonal: no reports of lowered self-esteem

Interpersonal: family strains stem from economic loss

Academic: economic loss related to questioning professional goals

◦ Increased need for accommodative coping in emerging adults

Iterative inquiry:

◦ Rich elaboration of individual experiences

◦ Explored why or why not these domains were affected

Economic loss may truncate emerging adulthood period

Hypothesis generation for future research

Mixed-methods

Meaningful experience of economic loss can help enhance understanding and support of young people

Thank you!!!

Questions?

General: Applicable to all participants

• Interpersonal changes focused on family strains

• Guilt

• Anxiety

• Coping:

• Compromising

• Shift in Values

• Rationalization

Typical to more than ½ of participants

◦ Increased self-efficacy and self-reliance

◦ Increased motivation

◦ Changes in peer relationships

◦ Shame