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Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 24(2), Summer 2003 䉷 2003 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 183
Economic Pressure, Maternal Depression, and
Child Adjustment in Latino Families:
An Exploratory Study
Jessica M. Dennis
Ross D. Parke
Scott Coltrane
Jan Blacher
Sharon A. Borthwick-Duffy
University of California, Riverside
ABSTRACT: The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of poverty and eco-
nomic pressure upon the adjustment of mothers and children in immigrant Latino fam-
ilies. Participants included 56 first generation Latina mothers who completed ques-
tionnaires addressing economic difficulties, depression, social support, and behavior
problems exhibited by their children (30 boys, 26 girls) who ranged in ages from 4 to
13. Results indicate that maternal depression mediates the relationship between ma-
ternal economic pressure and child adjustment. Social support was found to further
moderate the relationship between maternal depression and child internalizing prob-
lems. Gender differences indicated that relations were stronger among mothers of boys
than mothers of girls.
Jessica M. Dennis is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychology, Univer-
sity of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521; e-mail: jdennis噝citrus.ucr.edu.
Ross D. Parke is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Direc-
tor of the Center for Family Studies, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
92521; e-mail: parke噝ucrac1.ucr.edu.
Scott Coltrane is Professor and Chair in the Department of Sociology and Associate
Director in the Center for Family Studies, University of California, Riverside, River-
side, CA 92521; e-mail: scott.coltrane噝ucr.edu.
Jan Blacher is Professor in the Graduate School of Education, University of Califor-
nia, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521; e-mail: jan.blacher.ucr.edu.
Sharon A. Borthwick-Duffy is Professor in the Graduate School of Education, Univer-
sity of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521; e-mail: sharon.duffy噝ucr.edu.
This research was supported, in part, by grants from the Office of the Dean of Hu-
manities and Social Sciences, University of California, Riverside, the Center for Rural
Mental Health, Iowa State University, and NIMH Grant No. MH54154 (Ross Parke,
P.I.) and NICHD Grant No. HD21324 (Jan Blacher, P.I.).
The authors extend thanks to Manuel Barajas, Jennifer de la Ossa, Maria Hurtado,
and Angela Morales who supervised the data collection.
184 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
KEY WORDS: child adjustment; economic pressure; emotional support; Latino fami-
lies; maternal depression.
During much of the past decade, the United States enjoyed a period
of widespread economic prosperity characterized by low unemploy-
ment rates and increases in median income levels. At the same time,
a significant number of families continued to live in poverty, and by
the end of the 20
th
century, 19% of children under 18 were still classi-
fied as below the Federal poverty level. Furthermore, poverty and un-
employment rates for Latino families continued to be higher than
those of non-Latino white families. While 34.4% of Hispanic children
were considered to be in poverty at the end of the decade, this was
true for only 10.6% of white children (White & Rogers, 2000). Despite
such economic inequality and evidence that Latino families are among
the most financially troubled in the nation, little research has investi-
gated the impact of economic adversity on Latino families. The pur-
pose of the present study is to investigate the relation between eco-
nomic pressure and psychosocial adaptation in immigrant Latino
families. Specifically, the goal is to further our understanding of how
financial difficulties are experienced by Latina mothers and their
children. The research questions investigated in the present study
are as follows: What is the extent to which income is related to feel-
ings of economic pressure; does maternal depression serve as a medi-
ator between maternal economic pressure and child adjustment; and
what are the ways in which social support moderates the relation
between maternal depression and child adjustment.
Literature Review and Hypotheses
Economic Difficulties and Economic Pressure
The effects of economic deprivation upon families has been well
documented for European-American, African-American, and samples
of mixed ethnicity (Conger & Elder, 1994; McLoyd, Cauce, Takeuchi,
& Wilson, 2000). There is some evidence that children who experience
poverty, especially those who experience persistent or long-term pov-
erty, are more likely to experience negative outcomes such as behav-
ior problems, low-self-esteem, and difficulties in peer relations (Dun-
can, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994; Hao, 1995). While some studies
have focused on the direct relationship between economic hardship
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 185
FIGURE 1
Overall Model of Economic Pressure and Family Functioning
and child outcomes, most researchers have focused on the ways in
which this relationship is mediated by parental factors (Conger & El-
der, 1994; Driscoll & Moore, 1999). In other words, the strain of pov-
erty and financial difficulties is assumed to affect the emotional ad-
justment of the parents and their parenting behaviors, which in turn,
affect child outcomes.
In a series of studies, Conger and Elder (1994) have traced the ef-
fects of economic pressure and depression upon families in rural farm
communities (see Figure 1). They use the term economic pressure to
refer to subjective feelings of distress or strain associated with a per-
ception of inadequate financial resources to provide for the needs of
the family and an inability to cover expenses each month. These sub-
jective feelings have been found to be related to more objective mea-
sures of economic hardship such as lower income-to-needs ratios,
higher debt-to-asset ratios, income loss, and employment instability
(unemployment, underemployment, and demotion) (Conger & Elder,
1994). Other researchers have found that satisfaction with financial
resources is not only associated with perceived income adequacy but
also with locus of control beliefs. Individuals who feel that they lack
control over their lives and financial situation are more likely to be
dissatisfied with their financial situation (Hira, Fitzsimmons, Haf-
strom, & Bauer, 1993; Sumarwan & Hira, 1993). Still others have
emphasized the idea that measures of financial well-being must also
take into account standards of comparison that are used in making
judgments such as an individual’s past financial experiences or peer
groups that they use as financial comparison referents (Porter & Gar-
man, 1992; Walson & Fitzsimmons, 1993). The families surveyed in
the present study are all first generation Latino (mothers were not
born in the United States). Possibly, in such families, even small in-
comes may be perceived as adequate if that amount represents an
increase over previous years’ income or reflects an enhanced ability to
meet living expenses. Although low income (objective economic diffi-
culty) has been related to maternal economic pressure in samples of
186 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
other ethnicities, it is hypothesized that such a relation will be
weaker in the present sample.
Economic Pressure and Family Functioning
While the source of feelings of economic pressure may vary for dif-
ferent individuals, the effects of economic pressure are more consis-
tent. Subjective feelings of economic pressure are related to decreases
in parental emotional functioning and increases in depression (Con-
ger & Elder, 1994). The results from these studies support a model
that is based on an indirect relation between parental depression and
child behavior problems (see Figure 1). This model suggests that par-
ental depression affects child adjustment because it disrupts parent-
ing and is associated with an increase in hostility towards the chil-
dren. Support for similar models that involve parenting behaviors as
mediators between parental emotional well-being and child adjust-
ment have been found by others as well (Brody & Flor, 1997; Conger,
Patterson, & Ge, 1995; Lempers, Clark-Lempers, & Simons, 1989).
The goal of the present study was to examine in a preliminary way
some aspects of the model in Latino families. Specifically, the rela-
tions among economic pressure, maternal depression, and child out-
comes were explored (see Figure 2). The role of parenting in the
model was not examined due to lack of measures of parenting. It is
expected that the relation between maternal economic pressure and
child adjustment problems will be mediated by maternal depression.
Several studies have found evidence for such a direct relation be-
tween maternal depression and child adjustment even in the absence
of measures of parent-child interaction (Marchand & Hock, 1998;
Schteingart, Molnar, Klein, Lowe, & Hartmann, 1995).
The assumption made within these models is that the direction of
causation is one in which the mothers’ behaviors affect the outcomes
of their children. Such a causal assumption can be questioned if there
FIGURE 2
Partial Model of Economic Pressure and Family Functioning
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 187
are bidirectional effects in which both the mother’s behavior affects
the child and the child’s behavior impacts the mother. In such cases,
it would be that children who exhibit more behavior problems in-
crease maternal feelings of stress and depression, and hence cause
more negative maternal outcomes. As is the case with prior litera-
ture, this study does not allow the direction of causation to be tested
and both maternal and child effects may be operating.
Most of the earlier studies were conducted with European-Ameri-
can families and generalizability to other samples of families may be
limited. On theoretical grounds, a similar pattern of relations among
economic pressure, parental depression, and child outcomes is ex-
pected to hold for Latino families. However, the present sample is
limited by small size and sole reliance on maternal report of all vari-
ables. While this study is a first and preliminary step, to be followed
up with a larger sample, more diversity of reporters, and more con-
structs, it represents an opportunity to evaluate some aspects of the
model in this understudied population. Based on previous research,
we expect that our reliance on maternal report should pose only lim-
ited problems. Although clinically depressed mothers have been found
to over-report child behavior problems (Najman et al., 2000), other
researchers have failed to find any evidence of bias in a large non-
clinical community sample (Sawyer, Streiner, & Baghurst, 1998). Still
others have found substantial agreement between parents, teachers,
peers, and child self-reports of aggression and depression (Epkins &
Meyers, 1994).
Social Support
A second goal was to examine moderators of the links among eco-
nomic stress, depression, and child outcomes. Social support has been
found to be an important moderator of depression among both Euro-
pean-American and Mexican-American families. Mexican immigrants
who report more social support have been found to be at a lower risk
for depression than those who report less support (Alderete, Vega,
Kolody, & Aguilar-Gaxiola, 1999). Such findings are consistent with
research on samples of mixed ethnicities suggesting that limited so-
cial support may put individuals at risk for negative emotional out-
comes such as depression (La Roche, Turner, & Kallick, 1995; Lu,
1995). Nevertheless, other researchers have discussed social support
in terms of its stress-relieving or buffering effects. The “buffering hy-
pothesis” suggests that social support serves to reduce the negative
188 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
consequences of stressful life events. It is believed that the presence
of support from family and friends will moderate the effects of stress
by helping individuals to cope with their problems, organize their re-
sources, share the burden of the stress, and give emotional or instru-
mental assistance (Roschelle, 1997; Smith, 1985).
While some support has been found for the notion that social sup-
port buffers the link between economic difficulties and felt strain
(D’Ercole, 1988), and the relation between unemployment stress and
negative physical and mental health outcomes (Winefield, Tiggeman,
& Winefield, 1990), it is not clear whether social support actually
moderates the relations between these variables (an interaction) or
whether social support has a main effect decreasing the likelihood of
negative outcomes. The present study asks whether social support
moderates the relation between economic pressure and depression in
Latino families, or whether social support serves to decrease the like-
lihood that one will experience depression, independently of economic
pressure. It is hypothesized that the relation between maternal eco-
nomic pressure and depression will be moderated by the mother’s
level of social support (i.e., the relation between maternal economic
pressure and depression will be less severe for mothers who report
higher levels of social support).
Social support may alter child adjustment outcomes as well, since
social support has been found to increase the ability of parents to
maintain positive interactions with their children in the face of stress
or depression. Though support from a spouse has been found to have
the most impact on parenting behaviors, support from friends and
family has also been linked to increases in involved and nurturing
parenting (Burchinal, Follmer, & Bryant; 1996; Hashima & Amato,
1994; Voydanoff & Donnelly, 1998). Furthermore, such support has
been found to be directly linked to increases in child functioning
(Crnic, Greenberg, & Slough, 1986). In the present study, we examine
the impact of social support on the relation between maternal depres-
sion and child behavior problems in Latino families. It is hypothe-
sized that the relation between maternal depression and child adjust-
ment will be moderated by the mother’s level of social support (i.e.,
the relation between maternal depression and child adjustment will
be less severe for mothers who report higher levels of social support).
Gender Differences
Some studies suggest that family economic difficulties affect boys
more adversely than girls, especially with regard to externalizing be-
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 189
haviors (Patterson, Vaden, Griesler, & Kupersmidt, 1991). Although
studies do suggest that gender differences exist, replications of such
findings are necessary, especially in subgroups of the population par-
ticularly at risk for experiencing economic hardship. The present
study also examines differences and similarities in the relations
among economic pressure, maternal depression, and child adjustment
for Latino boys and girls. Given the paucity of research concerning
gender differences in the effects of economic pressure upon families,
no specific hypotheses regarding gender differences are offered.
Method
Participants
Participants included 56 first generation Latina (born in Mexico, Central,
or South America) mothers and one of their children living in Southern Cali-
fornia. Families were recruited as part of two ongoing research projects exam-
ining family functioning and child adjustment. The 56 families of the present
study were selected on the basis of ethnicity and immigrant status from
among a control group for a study of developmental disabilities and as a pilot
sample for a larger study of economic pressure. Mothers reported on only one
of their children and no siblings were included in the sample. The mothers
were predominantly Spanish speakers.
Mothers’ ages ranged from 25 to 46 years with a mean of 34.77 years
(SD ⳱5.22). Children’s ages ranged from 4 to 13 years with a mean of 8.8
years (SD ⳱2.37). Thirty (54%) of the children were male and 26 (46%) were
female.
Almost three-quarters of the mothers (77%) were married or living with the
father of their child, 9% were divorced, widowed, or separated from their hus-
bands, and 14% had never been married. The majority of the mothers (71%)
were unemployed, while 29% reported being employed (including full-time
students). The mean number of years of education of the mothers was 8.79
years (SD ⳱4.26). Thirty-two percent of the mothers had a high school di-
ploma or higher degree.
The median combined annual income of all household members was $16,700
ranging from $4,884 to $77,000. Fifty-five percent of the families’ incomes fell
below the 1995 (the year in which data collection took place) poverty thresh-
old for their family size, while 45% of the families’ incomes were above the
poverty threshold.
Measures
Family finances questionnaire. Mothers reported the total income from all
family members and government support (Conger & Elder, 1994). The in-
come-to-needs ratio was created by dividing the total annual family income by
the poverty threshold as reported in the U.S. Census for 1995 for each fam-
190 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
ily’s particular household size. An income-to-needs ratio of less than one
would indicate that a family’s income was below the poverty threshold, while
a ratio of greater than one would indicate that a family’s income was above
the poverty threshold.
The mothers also rated on a five-point scale (1 ⳱Strongly Agree, 5 ⳱
Strongly Disagree) seven questions about whether they believe the family has
enough money to afford the home, clothing, furniture, car, food, medical care,
and recreational activities that they need. From these questions, one subscale
called “Not Enough Money” was created consisting of the items reversed
coded so as to indicate more economic pressure (Conger & Elder, 1994) (Cron-
bach alpha ⳱.86).
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Mothers’ feelings of depression or sadness
were measured using the BDI. For each item, 0 represented no depressive
symptomatology, and 3 represented extremely depressed (Beck, Steer, &
Brown, 1996). All 21 items were combined into a scale called “Overall Depres-
sion” (Cronbach alpha ⳱.88). This measure contains cut-off scores for sever-
ity of depression. Fifty of mothers’ scores in our sample fell in the minimally
to mildly depressed range, four fell in the moderately depressed range, and
two fell in the severely depressed range.
Emotional support. Mothers were administered a social support question-
naire which asked them to rate on a four-point scale (1 ⳱Definitely True,
4⳱Definitely False) their agreement with items relating to the amount of
social support they receive from friends and others outside their immediate
family (Vaux, 1988). Items were later reverse coded in order to represent more
support. From this questionnaire, a subscale called “Emotional Support” was
created by combining 13 items relating to the amount of emotional supportive-
ness and personal advice given by friends and others (Cronbach alpha ⳱.80).
Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Mothers rated 113 child behavior prob-
lems on a three-point scale (0 ⳱Not True, 1 ⳱Somewhat or Sometimes
True, 2 ⳱Very True or Often True) (Achenbach, 1991). Two subscales were
created following Achenbach (1991). “Internalizing Problems” contained 32
items relating to the amount of sadness, detachment, and insecurity exhibited
by the child (Cronbach alpha ⳱.84). “Externalizing Problems” contained 33
items relating to the amount of aggressive, delinquent, and defiant behaviors
exhibited by the child (Cronbach alpha ⳱.79).
Results
Correlation Analyses
Means, standard deviations, and ranges for all variables are pre-
sented in Table 1. Correlations between variables are presented in
Table 2. As expected, the correlation between income-to-needs ratio
and the maternal economic pressure variable “Not Enough Money”
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 191
TABLE 1
Means and Standard Deviations of Major Variables
Variable Mean
Standard
deviation Minimum Maximum
1. Income to Needs Ratio 1.13 0.64 0.14 3.67
2. Maternal Not Enough Money 22.13 5.49 8.00 35.00
3. Maternal Depression 8.75 8.33 0 38.00
4. Maternal Emotional Support 30.50 6.00 13.00 40.00
5. Child Internalizing 7.37 6.31 0 35.00
6. Child Externalizing 10.11 6.12 0 24.00
Note. n ⳱56.
was not significant, (r⳱ⳮ.20, ns), although still in the direction in-
dicating that lower income relative to needs is related to greater eco-
nomic pressure. The sample size of the present study is small and
thus power to detect the significance of such a correlation is low.
Regression Analyses
Inspection of the correlation matrix (see Table 2) indicated enough
relations among variables to test for mediation and moderation, and
therefore regression analyses were performed. Following Baron and
Kenny (1986), regression analyses were conducted in order to test for
mediating effects. In order for mediation to be confirmed, several con-
ditions must be met. In the first step, the independent variable must
be significantly related to the dependent variable. In the second step,
TABLE 2
Correlations Among Major Variables
Variable 1 2 34567
1. Income to Needs Ratio —ⳮ.20 ⳮ.10 ⳮ.02 ⳮ.27* ⳮ.16 .05
2. Maternal Not Enough Money —.42** ⳮ.39** .31* .36** .18
3. Maternal Depression —ⳮ.43** .46** .54** .14
4. Maternal Emotional Support —ⳮ.46** ⳮ.17 ⳮ.10
5. Child Internalizing —.57** .14
6. Child Externalizing —.10
7. Child Age —
Note. n ⳱56.
*p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
192 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
TABLE 3
Multiple Regressions Predicting Children’s Behavior Problems
from Maternal Economic Pressure and Depression with
Maternal Depression as a Mediator
Step Measure B SE B R
2
df
Dependent: Child Internalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .36* .15 .31* .10* 1, 54
2 Maternal Not Enough Money .16 .15 .14 .23** 2, 53
Maternal Depression .30** .10 .40**
Dependent: Child Externalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .40** .14 .36** .13** 1, 54
2 Maternal Not Enough Money .18 .14 .16 .26** 2, 53
Maternal Depression .35** .09 .47**
Note. *p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
when both the independent variable and the mediator are entered
into a regression equation together to predict the dependent variable,
a previously significant relation between the independent variable
and the dependent variable must be reduced to non-significance. In
this study, the child’s age was not significantly related to any of the
variables of interest, and therefore was not used as a control in any of
the analyses.
As expected, maternal depression mediated the relation between
the maternal economic pressure variable “Not Enough Money” and
both types of child behavior problems (see Table 3). In the first step of
each equation, maternal economic pressure significantly predicted
child behavior problems (

⳱.36, p⬍.05 for internalizing;

⳱.36,
p⬍.05 for externalizing). When both maternal economic pressure
and maternal depression were entered into the equations simulta-
neously, the paths from economic pressure to child behavior problems
were no longer significant, while the paths from maternal depression
to child behavior problems were significant (

⳱.40, p⬍.01 for in-
ternalizing;

⳱.47, p⬍.01 for externalizing).
In order to test for the moderation of emotional support on the rela-
tion between maternal economic pressure and depression, a signifi-
cant interaction must be found between the independent variable
(maternal economic pressure) and the moderator (maternal emotional
support). Following Cohen and Cohen (1983), regression analyses
were conducted in order to test for an interaction (see Table 4). In
Step 1, when maternal economic pressure and emotional support
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 193
TABLE 4
Multiple Regressions Predicting Maternal Depression from Maternal
Economic Pressure and Emotional Support, and the Interaction Between
Maternal Economic Pressure and Emotional Support
Step Measure B SE B Rdf
Dependent: Maternal Depression
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .45* .20 .30* .26** 2, 53
Maternal Emotional Support ⳮ.44* .18 ⳮ.31*
2 Maternal Not Enough Money 1.55* .75 1.03* .29** 3, 52
Maternal Emotional Support .47 .62 .34
N. E. Money ⳯Emotional Support ⳮ.04 ⳮ.02 ⳮ.79
Note. *p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
were entered into an equation simultaneously, both significantly pre-
dicted depression (for maternal economic pressure

⳱.30, p⬍.05;
for maternal emotional support

⳱ⳮ.31, p⬍.01). When the inter-
action between maternal economic pressure and emotional support
was entered into the equation in Step 2, the interaction term was not
significant thus the case for moderation was not supported.
As above, regression analyses were conducted in order to test for
the moderation of emotional support on the relation between mater-
nal depression and child internalizing problems (see Table 5). In Step
1, when maternal depression and emotional support were entered
into an equation simultaneously, both significantly predicted child in-
ternalizing problems (for maternal depression

⳱.32, p⬍.01; for
maternal emotional support

⳱ⳮ.32, p⬍.01). When the interac-
tion between maternal depression and emotional support was entered
into the equation in Step 2, the interaction term was marginally sig-
nificant (

⳱ⳮ.69, p⬍.10). Thus, the case for moderation was par-
tially supported. In order to interpret the nature of interaction,
groups of mothers high on social support or low on social support, and
high or low on depression were made based on the medians for each
variable (see Figure 3).
Regression analyses were also conducted in order to test for the
moderating role of emotional support on the relation between mater-
nal depression and child externalizing problems (see Table 5). No sup-
port for moderation was found.
194 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
TABLE 5
Multiple Regressions Predicting Children’s Behavior Problems from
Maternal Depression and Emotional Support, and the Interaction Between
Maternal Depression and Emotional Support
Step Measure B SE B R
2
df
Dependent: Child Internalizing Problems
1 Maternal Depression .24** .10 .32** .30** 2, 53
Maternal Emotional Support ⳮ.34** .13 ⳮ.32**
2 Maternal Depression .78** .29 1.04** .34** 3, 52
Maternal Emotional Support ⳮ.13 .17 ⳮ.13
Depression ⳯Emotional Support ⳮ.02Ⳮ.01 ⳮ.69Ⳮ
Dependent: Child Externalizing Problems
1 Maternal Depression .42** .09 .57** .30** 2, 53
Maternal Emotional Support .08 .13 .08
2 Maternal Depression .45 .30 .62 .30** 3, 52
Maternal Emotional Support .09 .17 .09
Depression ⳯Emotional Support ⳮ.00 .01 ⳮ.04
Note. Ⳮp⬍.10; *p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
FIGURE 3
The Interaction Between Maternal Depression and Maternal Emotional
Support in Predicting Child Internalizing Problems
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 195
TABLE 6
Correlations Among Major Variables by Gender
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6
1. Income to Needs Ratio —.28 .14 ⳮ.32 ⳮ.14 .08
2. Maternal Not Enough
Money ⳮ.46** —.02 ⳮ.31 ⳮ.04 .21
3. Maternal Depression ⳮ.25 .64** —ⳮ.12 .12 .30
4. Maternal Emotional
Support .17 ⳮ.44** ⳮ.64** —ⳮ.15 .08
5. Maternal Internalizing ⳮ.35 .49** .67** ⳮ.66* —.53**
6. Child Externalizing ⳮ.36 .49** .72** ⳮ.37* .61** —
Note. Correlations for boysa are listed below the diagonal, girlsb are listed above the
diagonal.
an⳱30.
bn⳱26.
*p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
Gender Differences
An inspection of the correlations among all major variables by gen-
der revealed that the vast majority of significant correlations were
found for mothers of boys (see Table 6). For mothers of girls, the only
significant correlation was between child internalizing behaviors and
child externalizing behaviors (r⳱.53, p⬍.01). For mothers of boys,
however, maternal economic pressure, depression, social support, and
child behavior problems were highly intercorrelated.
Gender differences in the relations among maternal economic pres-
sure, maternal depression, and child behavior problems were investi-
gated (see Table 7). For boys, maternal depression was found to medi-
ate the relationship between maternal economic pressure and both
types of child behavior problems. In the first step of each equation,
maternal economic pressure significantly predicted both types of child
behavior problems (

⳱.49, p⬍.01 for internalizing;

⳱.49,
p⬍.01 for externalizing). When both maternal economic pressure
and maternal depression were entered into the equations simulta-
neously, the paths from economic pressure to child behavior problems
were no longer significant, while the paths from maternal depression
to child behavior problems were significant (

⳱.60, p⬍.01 for in-
ternalizing;

⳱.69, p⬍.01 for externalizing). For girls, maternal
depression was not found to mediate the relations between maternal
economic pressure and child behavior problems (see Table 7).
196 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
TABLE 7
Multiple Regressions by Gender of Child Predicting Children’s Behavior
Problems from Maternal Economic Pressure and Depression with Maternal
Depression as Mediators
Step Measure B SE B R
2
df
Boysa
Dependent: Child Internalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .55** .18 .49** .24** 1, 28
2 Maternal Not Enough Money .12 .20 .11 .46** 2, 27
Maternal Depression .46** .14 .60**
Dependent: Child Externalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .48** .16 .49** .24** 1, 28
2 Maternal Not Enough Money .04 .17 .04 .52** 2, 27
Maternal Depression .45** .12 .69**
Girlsb
Dependent: Child Internalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money ⳮ.05 .26 ⳮ.04 .00 1, 24
2 Maternal Not Enough Money ⳮ.05 .26 ⳮ.04 .02 2, 23
Maternal Depression .09 .15 .11
Dependent: Child Externalizing Problems
1 Maternal Not Enough Money .29 .27 .21 .05 1, 24
2 Maternal Not Enough Money .28 .26 .21 .13 2, 23
Maternal Depression .24 .15 .30
an⳱30.
bn⳱26.
*p⬍.05; **p⬍.01.
Discussion
As expected, low-income or objective economic difficulty was not di-
rectly related to maternal depression, maternal social support, or
child behavior problems. Instead, mothers’ own subjective feelings of
economic pressure or not having enough money to afford basic neces-
sities were related to mother and child adjustment variables, espe-
cially for boys. It was also found that income was not significantly
related to maternal economic pressure in the present sample, al-
though studies with European-American and African-American fami-
lies have found that parents with lower incomes experience more eco-
nomic pressure (Brody & Flor, 1997; Conger & Elder, 1994).
Our findings indicate that for low-income Latino mothers, the
amount of financial resources alone does not account for their feelings
of strain. Future studies should investigate other objective economic
hardship indicators such as employment instability and family ex-
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 197
penses, including money sent to family members in their country of
origin, as well as other subjective constructs such as locus of control
and comparison referents used (Porter & Garman, 1992; Sumarwan
& Hira, 1993; Walson & Fitzsimmons, 1993). Such indicators might
be more closely related to economic pressure for Latino families than
income alone. Measures of financial well-being that take into account
the standard of living and resources available to families, such as the
time family members have to take care of household tasks, may be
more predictive of economic pressure than the more common income-
to-needs ratio which only takes into account income and number of
family members living in the house (Douthitt, 2000). It must be noted
that the correlation between income and economic pressure was in
the direction indicating more stress as families have less money rela-
tive to their needs. The non-significant finding may have been the
result of low power and/or restriction of range as the majority of the
families in the study had low levels of income.
As hypothesized, the relation between maternal economic pressure
and child adjustment was mediated by maternal depression for both
internalizing and externalizing child behavior problems. These find-
ings suggest that the impact of parental economic pressure upon child
adjustment may be similar in low-income, first generation Latino
families to families of other ethnicities (Brody & Flor, 1997; Conger &
Elder, 1994; Lempers et al., 1989). Nevertheless, most studies of eco-
nomic pressure indicate that the relation between maternal depres-
sion and child adjustment is further mediated by parenting behav-
iors. More studies are needed to assess the roles that parenting plays
in the link between economic pressure and child outcomes in Latino
families.
Though it was hypothesized that maternal emotional support
would moderate the relationship between maternal economic pres-
sure and depression, the results did not support this hypothesis. In-
stead, there was a main effect of emotional support on depression
that acts independently of economic pressure. In other words, lower
levels of emotional support increase the likelihood that a mother will
experience depression independently of the effects of economic pres-
sure upon maternal depression. These results are consistent with
other studies that have found evidence of similar main effects of so-
cial support and a sense of cohesion on adult depressive functioning
(Alderete et al., 1999; Blacher, Lopez, Shapiro, & Fusco, 1997; Voy-
danoff & Donnelly, 1998). Such findings may have implications for
the importance of informal support from friends and extended family
198 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
members to the mental well-being of Latina mothers. In future
studies, it is important to investigate the effects of spousal support
and support from immediate family members on the experience of
economic pressure in such families.
There was partial support for the hypothesis that the relation be-
tween maternal depression and child adjustment would be moderated
by maternal emotional support. Maternal emotional support was
found to moderate the relation between maternal depression and
child internalizing problems, but not the relation between maternal
depression and child externalizing problems. Mothers with higher
levels of emotional support had children with lower levels of inter-
nalizing problems overall, although the impact of depression was as-
sociated with an increase in child internalizing problems even for
these mothers (see Figure 3). On the other hand, mothers with lower
levels of emotional support had children with higher levels of inter-
nalizing problems, regardless of how much depression they experi-
enced.
These findings suggest that social support is limited in its ability to
buffer the negative impact of depression on child behavior. Instead, it
seems that higher levels of depression may still be associated with
increased levels of child internalizing problems even for mothers with
more emotional support. Nevertheless, it does seem that maternal
emotional support may be associated with lower levels of child inter-
nalizing behaviors when maternal depression is also low. This effect
was found only for child internalizing problems and no relation with
maternal emotional support was found for child externalizing prob-
lems. It may be that mothers who are able to gain access to emotional
support from others and maintain emotional stability are able to
model such behaviors for their children and hence their children are
also more emotionally stable. This type of modeling would be less ef-
fective in preventing externalizing behaviors which may be more de-
pendent on the ability of mothers to monitor their children’s activities
and maintain consistent discipline. Such an interpretation, however,
is preliminary until more research has examined this issue.
Our investigation indicates some evidence for gender differences in
these processes, with stronger relations among maternal economic
pressure, depression, and child adjustment for boys than for girls.
The relations among maternal economic pressure, maternal depres-
sion, and boys’ adjustment are consistent with earlier work (Brody &
Flor, 1997; Lempers et al., 1989), but very few relations among these
variables were found for girls. While some studies have suggested
J. M. Dennis, R. D. Parke, S. Coltrane, J. Blacher, and S. A. Borthwick-Duffy 199
that boys are more adversely affected by economic difficulties than
girls (Patterson et al., 1991), such findings do not explain why mater-
nal economic pressure would not be related to feelings of depression
for mothers of girls. Because boys exhibit more externalizing behavior
problems than girls, such behaviors may disproportionately impact
the amount of strain felt by their mothers. In other words, mothers of
young boys may be more reactant to economic difficulties when they
are concurrently having to handle the more unruly behavior of their
sons.
Limitations
A series of caveats are in order, since there are several limitations
to this study. Since all variables in the study were reported by the
mothers, any interpretations about the causal nature of the effects
must be treated with caution. Significant relations between maternal
depression and maternal report of child behavior problems may be
the result of a tendency for depressed mothers to rate the behavior of
their children more negatively, and may not reflect actual behavior
problems exhibited by their children. Nevertheless, the relation be-
tween parental depression and child adjustment appears to be robust
and many studies have found evidence for this relation with informa-
tion from multiple observers (Conger & Elder, 1994; Marchand &
Hock, 1998; Schteingart et al., 1995; Zahn-Waxler, Iannotti, Cum-
mings, & Denham, 1990). We plan to continue to investigate these
relations with information from multiple reporters, observational
data, and a larger sample size. Both the power and stability of the
statistical estimates was limited in the present study by a reliance on
a small sample. It is our hope that the results will be replicated and
extended with a larger sample.
Another limitation is that economic pressure and family function-
ing were only measured at one time period. Our model assumes that
the mothers’ behaviors affect the outcomes of their children, but the
children’s behavior may impact their mothers so that children whom
exhibit more behavior problems increase the feelings of pressure and
depression and lead to more negative maternal outcomes. Before any
conclusions about the causal directions of these effects can be drawn,
longitudinal and/or experimental data are needed. Finally, it is im-
portant to recognize that different Latino groups (e.g., Mexican-Amer-
ican, South American) may react differently to economic pressure and
therefore future studies should compare the reactions of different
200 Journal of Family and Economic Issues
Latino subgroups in order to be certain about the generalizability
boundaries of this work.
Implications for Future Research
While our findings indicate that many of the processes relating ma-
ternal economic pressure to child outcomes in first generation Latino
families are similar to those found in studies of other ethnic groups,
the present study highlights the importance of focusing on the unique
aspects of such processes in understudied populations. Experiences
unique to first generation Latino families are likely to affect the ways
in which family members react to and cope with economic pressure.
For example, the amount of economic deprivation among these Latino
families was not predictive of the feelings of economic pressure. Fu-
ture studies must seek to uncover which factors are related to eco-
nomic strain in such families and to more carefully examine the
processes between parents and children that contribute to family ad-
aptation.
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