Financial stress and coping resources: A comparative analysis of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics

The quality of marital and family life is inextricably linked to the financial circumstance of the household. This study examined the relationships between and among objective economic stressors, personal and social coping resources, and subjective financial strain. Two waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households were used to examine variations in the utilization patterns of coping resources during economic stress among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.; Structural equation modeling was used to test competing models of the stress process from the life stress paradigm—the deterioration and stress-suppressing models. Findings largely support the deterioration model, however, only two factors—self-efficacy and community integration—confirmed the hypothesized paths in the deterioration model and only among the White sample. The stress-suppressing model was not supported.; The pattern of relationships between economic stress, coping resources, and financial strain were markedly different among the cultural groups. For Whites, self-efficacy and community integration reduced financial distress; the remaining coping resources had no effect. For Blacks, self-efficacy reduced financial distress, bill management, savings behavior, and community integration had no effect on distress, and instrumental and expressive kin support elevated financial distress. For Hispanics, coping resources provided the least explanatory value, with only instrumental kin support reducing financial distress and self-efficacy contributing to financial distress, the other coping resources had no effect.; Among Whites, savings behavior, bill management, and expressive kin support were mobilized during economic stress, however; the resources were not enough to combat financial strain. Among Blacks, coping resources played a more effective role, economic stress increased levels of savings behavior, instrumental kin support, and community integration, in effect serving a protective role. Among Hispanics, economic stress reduced savings behavior, self-efficacy, and community integration; however, economic stress increased the amount of time spent in bill management. Coping resources were not effective in reducing financial strain.; Building on these findings, implications for education and future research are also discussed. The findings provide the ability to target programming and potential interventions could be guided by the theoretical frameworks tested. Future research designed to assess the influence of ethnic background on stress is needed.