Couple Resilience to Economic Pressure Over Time and Across Generations

• Author: Frederick O. Lorenz,Rand D. Conger,Monica J. Martin,Katherine J. Conger,April S. Masarik,Emilio Ferrer
• Published date: 01 April 2016
• Date: 01 April 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12284

A S. M Boise State University

M J. M University of California, Davis∗

E F University of California, Davis∗∗

F O. L Iowa State University∗∗∗

K J. C University of California, Davis∗∗∗∗

R D. C University of California, Davis∗∗∗∗∗

Couple Resilience to Economic Pressure Over Time

and Across Generations

Research suggests that economic stress disrupts

perceived romantic relationship quality, yet less

is known regarding the direct inuence of eco-

nomic stress on negative behavioral exchanges

between partners over time. Another intriguing

question concerns the degree to which effec-

tive problem solving might protect against this

hypothesized association. To address these

issues, the authors studied two generations of

couples who were assessed approximately 13

Department of Psychology, Boise State University, 1910

University Drive, Boise, ID 83725

(aprilmasarik@boisestate.edu).

∗Family Research Group, Department of Human &

Community Development, University of California, Davis,

202 Cousteau Place, Suite 100, Davis, CA 95616.

∗∗174C Young Hall, 1 Shields Avenue,Davis, CA 95616.

∗∗∗Department of Psychology, 487C Science I, Iowa State

University,Ames, IA 50011.

∗∗∗∗Human Development & Family Studies, 2323 Hart

Hall, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.

∗∗∗∗∗Center for Poverty Research, 1361 Hart Hall,

University of California, Davis, CA 95616.

Key Words: coping, couples, economic well-being, family

stress, intergenerationalissues, resiliency.

years apart (Generation 1: N=367, Generation

2: N=311). On average and for both gener-

ations, economic pressure predicted relative

increases in couples’ hostile, contemptuous, and

angry behaviors; however, couples who were

highly effective problem solvers experienced no

increases in these behaviors in response to eco-

nomic pressure. Less effective problem solvers

experienced the steepest increases in hostile

behaviors in response to economic pressure.

Because these predictive pathways were repli-

cated in both generations of couples, it appears

that these stress and resilience processes unfold

over time and across generations.

Economic stressors can have potentially serious,

adverse consequences for romantic relation-

ships. For example, economic hardship has been

linked to marital instability (e.g., R. D. Conger

et al., 1990), increased conict (e.g., Dew &

Yorgason, 2010; Hardie & Lucas, 2010), nega-

tive communication patterns (e.g., Williamson,

Karney, & Bradbury, 2013), and lower rela-

tionship quality (e.g., D. R. Johnson & Booth,

1990). Indeed, marital conicts about money

are more common, problematic, and likely to

remain unresolved than are non-money issues

326 Journal of Marriage and Family 78 (April 2016): 326–345

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12284

Couple Resilience to Economic Pressure 327

(Papp, Cummings, & Goeke-Morey, 2009).

Less is known, however, about couples who

are resilient to nancial difculties. Because

the statistical association between economic

problems and distress in relationships is far

from perfect, the evidence suggests that many

couples may experience little or no distress in

response to nancial difculties. In this article

we focus on the experience of such couples.

In particular, we propose that one likely

source of couple resilience to economic prob-

lems involves the degree to which partners are

effective at solving problems together. Other

research has shown that couples dealing with

the chronic illness of a partner were less likely

to experience declines in their relationship

satisfaction when they actively engaged with

one another (e.g., openly discussed issues,

asked how the partner was feeling, and engaged

in joint problem-solving strategies; Schokker

et al., 2010). We expect that these general

problem-solving skills will also promote a

couple’s ability to cope with economic stress.

Consistent with this idea, effective problem

solving has been shown to reduce the posi-

tive association between marital conict and

thoughts of divorce or separation within the

context of economic problems (R. D. Conger,

Rueter, & Elder,1999). The current investigation

builds on and extends this earlier research.

In the present study we investigated whether

couples with more effective problem-solving

skills, compared to less skillful couples, would

engage in fewer hostile behaviors over time

in response to economic pressure. That is, we

investigated whether effective problem-solving

skills represent an important resource that pro-

motes couple resilience to economic problems,

which builds on concepts from the family stress

and resilience literature (e.g., R. D. Conger

& Conger, 2002). Furthermore, because sys-

tematic replication is essential for improved

understanding in any empirical science (e.g.,

Schmidt, 2009), another aim of our study was

to assess the degree of replication for the afore-

mentioned stress and resilience processes in

two generations of romantic couples. Partici-

pating families were involved in a long-term

prospective investigation that began in the late

1980s during an economic downturn (see R. D.

Conger & Conger, 2002). The rst-generation

couples (G1) were assessed in the early 1990s

and included husbands and wives in their early

40s. Their children, in turn, were interviewed

between 2005 and 2007, after they had grown

into young adulthood and established romantic

relationships. Having two generations of couples

gave us the unique opportunity to determine if

the ndings for the G1 couples would replicate

for the G2 couples, approximately 13 years later.

E S  R

R F

Research from the era of the Great Depression

and the farm crises of the 1980s provided evi-

dence that economic stress is related to adverse

consequences for families. For example, couples

who experienced heavy income loss during the

Great Depression years were more likely to

have nancial disputes and increased tensions

in their marital relationships (Liker & Elder,

1983). Likewise, farm couples from Nebraska

who experienced an economic crisis in the

1980s reported more disruptions in their com-

munication skills and increased thoughts of

ending their relationship in divorce (D. R. John-

son & Booth, 1990). According to the Family

Stress Model (e.g., R. D. Conger & Conger,

2002; R. D. Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010;

R. D. Conger, Ge, & Lorenz, 1994), the linking

mechanism between economic hardship and

various aspects of marital dysfunction seems

to be an increase in daily economic pressures

(e.g., being unable to meet basic material needs)

that an economic shock (e.g., income loss) pro-

duces. Subsequently, these pressures appear to

exacerbate emotional and behavioral problems

for partners in romantic relationships that, in

turn, can cause tension and disruption in close

relationships. As such, economic pressures give

psychological meaning to events and conditions

that stem from economic hardship (R. D. Conger

& Conger, 2002; R. D. Conger et al., 2010).

These basic economic stress processes have been

shown to operate for White, African American,

and Hispanic families living in the United States

and for families living outside the United States

(for a review, see R. D. Conger et al., 2010).

In the present study, we extend this earlier

research in several important ways. First, much

of the previous research has focused on couples’

negativeperceptions of relationship quality (e.g.,

satisfaction) in response to economic stress (e.g.,

Dew & Yorgason, 2010; Hardie & Lucas, 2010).

Self-reported perceptions of relationship quality

are certainly important for relationship out-

comes, but they may simply reect the overall