Family Income and Parenting: The Role of Parental Depression and Social Support

This study examined the relations among family income, social support, parental depression, and parenting among 290 predominantly rural families with children at risk for disruptive or socially withdrawn behaviors. Structural equation modeling and multiple regression were used, and the results showed that low family income was related to high levels of parental depression, which in turn were associated with disruptive parenting. The findings also showed that social support mediated the adverse relationship between low family income and parental depression. Social support was directly related to positive parenting and indirectly related to parent-child relational frustration via parental depression. Social support also moderated the indirect relationship between low family income and parenting. Implications for prevention intervention are discussed. Key Words: family income, mediation, moderated mediation, parental depression, parenting, social support. Given the strong link between parenting practices and developmental outcomes in children (Belsky, Woodworth, & Crnic, 1996; Campbell, 1994, 1997; Dodge, 2001), many interventions for at-risk children focus on teaching positive parenting skills. These interventions are commonly targeted at parents under stress due to factors like economic pressure and psychological distress, but in real-world settings, participation in such programs is often low (August, Bloomquist, Lee, Realmuto, & Hektner, 2006; Garvey, Julion, Fogg, Kratovil, & Gross, 2006). It is possible that parents under stress would be more receptive to interventions that focus on addressing their personal needs, such as social support, but it is unclear what role social support may play in altering the relation between stress and parenting. A better understanding of what influences positive, competent parenting may inform future interventions and make them both more desirable and effective for parents under stress. Economie pressure and parental psychological distress are two factors that have been found to negatively influence positive parenting practices. For example, low family income, which is a meaningful proxy for economic pressure, is related to less involved, less supportive parenting (Brody, Murry, Kim, & Brown, 2002) and less communication and affection between parents and their children (Guo & Harris, 2000). Psychological distress, such as depression, is associated with increased levels of hostile, coercive, and disengaged parenting practices (Lovejoy, Graczyk, O'Hare, & Neuman, 2000). In addition, economic pressure and depression are related, in that lower income individuals have increased rates of depression, compared with their higher income peers (Blazer, Kessler, McGonagle, & Swartz, 1994; Lorant et al, 2003). Several conceptual frameworks provide insight into the relations among economic pressure, psychological distress, and parenting. The Family Stress Model (Conger, Reuter, & Conger, 2000) defines economic pressure as difficulties in dealing with stressful economic conditions, including the inability to pay bills or to meet basic material needs, such as food and clothing. The model posits that chronic economic disadvantage leads to these daily struggles, which give psychological meaning to the experience of economic pressure. Parents who experience such difficulties may become frustrated, angry, and emotionally distressed. According to the model, emotional distress (including depressed mood), in turn, diminishes or disrupts parents' effective parenting practices. Similarly, in her conceptual framework on how poverty and economic loss affect African American children, McLoyd ( 1 990) postulated that economic hardship tempers the capacity for positive parenting through parental psychological distress. Previous empirical studies support these conceptual frameworks (Conger, Ge, Elder, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; Elder, Nguyen, & Caspi, 1985; Nievar & Luster, 2006). …