Financial Strain and the Work-Home Interface: a Test of the Work-Home Resources Model from the Study for Employment Retention of Veterans (SERVe)

Acknowledgements. List of Tables. i ii v List of Figures. vi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Financial Strain. 8 Chapter 3: The Work-Family Interface. 14 Chapter 4: The Work-Home Resources Model. 24 Chapter 5: Hypothesis Development . 30 Chapter 6: Method . 44 Chapter 7: Analytic Approach . 54 Chapter 8: Results . 60 Chapter 9: Discussion . 81 Tables . 101 Figures. 110 References. 145 v List of Tables Table 1. Items from Study Measures. 101 Table 2. Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations. 103 Table 3. Correlations of Financial Strain With Other Study Variables. 109 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Conceptual model from the work-home resources model (ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012). Figure 2. Hypothesized model of the home-to-work process. Figure 3. Hypothesized model of the work-to-home process. 110 111 112 Figure 4. Participants and conditions for the Study for Employment Retention of Veterans (SERVe). 113 Figure 5. Standardized results for structural equation model 1. 114 Figure 6. Standardized results for structural equation model 2. 115 Figure 7. Standardized results for structural equation model 3. 116 Figure 8. Standardized results for structural equation model 4. 117 Figure 9. Standardized results for structural equation model 5. 118 Figure 10. Standardized results for structural equation model 6. 119 Figure 11. Standardized results for structural equation model 7. 120 Figure 12. Standardized results for structural equation model 8. 121 Figure 13. Standardized results for structural equation model 9. 122 Figure 14. Standardized results for structural equation model 10. 123 Figure 15. Standardized results for structural equation model 11. 124 Figure 16. Standardized results for structural equation model 12. 125 Figure 17. Standardized results for structural equation model 13. 126 Figure 18. Standardized results for structural equation model 14. 127 Figure 19. Standardized results for structural equation model 15. 128 vii Figure 20. Standardized results for structural equation model 16. 129 Figure 21. Standardized results for structural equation model 17. 130 Figure 22. Standardized results for structural equation model 18. 131 Figure 23. Standardized results for structural equation model 19. 132 Figure 24. Standardized results for structural equation model 20. 133 Figure 25. Standardized results for structural equation model 21. 134 Figure 26. Standardized results for structural equation model 22. 135 Figure 27. Standardized results for structural equation model 23. 136 Figure 28. Standardized results for structural equation model 24. 137 Figure 29. Standardized results for structural equation model 25. 138 Figure 30. Standardized results for structural equation model 26. 139 Figure 31. Standardized results for structural equation model 27. 140 Figure 32. Standardized results for structural equation model 28. 141 Figure 33. Standardized results for structural equation model 29. 142 Figure 34. Standardized results for structural equation model 30. 143 Figure 35. Standardized results for structural equation model 31. 144 1 Chapter 1: Introduction As of April 2017, there were 7.1 million unemployed workers in the United States (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017a). Though unemployment rates have improved considerably over the last several years, there continue to be high rates of underemployed and marginally attached workers struggling to find jobs, as well. An additional 5.3 million workers are classified as involuntary part-time workers (i.e., workers who would prefer full-time employment), while 1.5 million workers are classified as marginally attached (i.e., individuals who searched for jobs within the past twelve months but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched in the past four weeks). Even within employed individuals, financial stressors are common. In the most recent report of occupational wages, only two of the ten largest occupations in the United States showed an average wage above the U.S. mean of $49,630; the two above-average wages were for registered nurses and for general and operations managers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017b). Several of the remaining eight largest occupations fell substantially below the mean, including retail salespersons (i.e., $27,180), cashiers (i.e., $21,680), and food preparation and serving workers (i.e., $20,460). Due to these and other wage issues, in combination with financial demands, many workers experience a discrepancy between income and financial needs that threatens their ability to meet demands. Within the U.S. military service member population, financial stressors are of particular concern. As of September 2015, there were over 4.7 million United States veterans from the post-9/11 era (National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2015). As veterans return from service and enter the civilian workforce, many face issues of civilian unemployment and underemployment, often while juggling National Guard or 2 Reserve Component duties. Approximately 53% of veterans in 2010 and 2011 faced a period of unemployment within 15 months of separation (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). Additionally, veteran status is linked with 50-65% higher odds of unemployment when compared with civilians of similar characteristics, with even higher odds for female veterans (Kleykamp, 2013). A lack of employment stability during the transition to the civilian workforce likely contributes to stress experiences related to financial circumstances, especially as this lack of employment stability is often coupled with other reintegration challenges. For example, Adler and colleagues (2011) studied a sample of post-9/11 veterans, both employed and unemployed, and found that both alcohol/illicit drug use and psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, were associated with several types of work impairment and productivity loss. In addition to challenges of transitioning back to civilian employment, financial management is also known to be a challenge veterans face. One study by Elbogen and colleagues (2013) found, in a sample of over 1,000 veterans, that 30% reported “money mismanagement” (e.g., bouncing a check, going over credit limit), which was associated with increased likelihood of homelessness over the subsequent year. Another study found that veterans who did not have enough money to cover basic needs were more likely to experience criminal arrest, homelessness, substance abuse, suicidal behavior, aggression, and other adjustment issues (Elbogen, Johnson, Wagner, Newton, and Beckham, 2012). While veterans are not alone in facing money management challenges (e.g., the annual American Psychological Association’s [2017] Stress in America survey showed that 61% of Americans rated money as a very or somewhat significant source of stress), 3 transitioning veterans face challenges that the average civilian does not encounter. Preventing financial stress experiences is important to preventing negative outcomes regardless of military status, but is particularly important for veterans, given the other challenges veterans already have to face as they transition back to civilian life. To help determine how both organizations and society at large can better aid transitioning veterans, additional research on the role of financial stress experiences in both the work and home domains, as well as the interface between work and home, is needed. Greater knowledge of predictors that shape financial stress experiences will provide targets to actively try to improve financial stress experiences in veterans. Likewise, greater knowledge of outcomes from financial stress experiences will provide motives for organizations and governmental bodies to support this type of intervention work. To support these goals, the purpose of the current study was to determine the role of veterans’ financial strain in the work-home interface over a period of nine months. Financial Stress Experiences F