Household Economic Shock and the Academic Experiences of College Women

1. Household Economic Shock and the Academic Experiences of College Women Alyssa Deitchman Department of Applied Psychology New York University

2. Acknowledgments • Dr. Elise Cappella • Dr. Gigliana Melzi • Dr. Adina Schick • Ha Yeon Kim • Daisy Jackson • Kristin Lees • Project Friend Research Team

3. Economy • High unemployment • 70% of parents of college students report feelings of anxiety over economy • College tuition increasing rapidly  70.5% of students experience debt • Class of 2010  9.1% unemployment Fetterman, 2008; Hogwharter, 2009; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011

4. What Is Socioeconomic Status? Income • Generally understood as a static variable • Often used as an independent variable to predict outcomes • Thus, after an economic shock, income might be a dynamic variable Socioeconomic Status Occupation Education Luo, 2009; Teevam, 1995

5. Household Economic Shock • Household economic shock is defined as “an unexpected and substantial variation in household resources.” Lam & Leibbrant (2005), p. 325; U.S. Census Bureau, 2012

6. Emerging Adult Academic Experiences • Children and adolescents as population of focus • Mental health outcomes • Academic experiences and expectations not explored • Emerging adulthood new and relatively unexplored developmental period

7. The Outcomes of Economic Shock Family Strains Fewer Educational Resources Questioning Future Self Esteem • Tuition rates may force these students to take out loans • May need a part-time job • May have to delay graduation time • Students’ understanding of their future is influenced by parents’ position • Lowering of academic and/or personal goal aspirations • Stressed parents will not be able to provide emotional support • Loss of respect for parents due to income loss • Gender differences exist • Economic hardship for females is directly associated with lowered feelings of agency more so than males • Females report more feelings of insecurity around economic loss Caspi & Van Nguyen, 1985; Elder 1974; Lempers, 1989

8. Family and Economic Shock Conger, 2008

9. Factors Influencing Economic Shock • Responses to economic difficulties are mediated by many contextual variables: • Social support • Intelligence • Age • Gender • Temperament • How their family responds to economic shock influences adults’ adaptation and coping to the situation more significantly than other contexts Elder, 1974; McLoyd, 1989

10. This Project Interpersonal • Explored three domains of college students Intrapersonal Academic

11. This Project Interpersonal • Explored three domains of college students • Investigated how economic shock affects these three interconnected domains • Used qualitative methods to understand the experiences of college students who have undergone an economic shock Intrapersonal Academic Household Economic Shock

12. Research Questions • How does household economic shock relate to students’ self-concept, agency, and identity? • In what ways do students perceive that their experience of economic shock relate to their friendships and social relationships? • How does household economic shock relate to students’ perceptions of their ability to achieve present and future academic goals?

13. Stress and Coping Framework Stressors Coping Strategies Emotional Distress Questioning Future Increased Motivation Family Strain Peer Strain

14. Participants and Procedure • Recruited full-time NYU students • Eligibility screener assessed level of economic shock • Answer “yes” to 4 out of 5 prompts • 7 responded • All female • 6 seniors (21), 1 junior (20) • 5 White students, 1 Asian and 1 Hispanic

15. Consensual Qualitative Research • Semi-structured interviews used to confirm or disconfirm domains expected to emerge • In-depth interviewing technique focusing on individual experiences • Iterative process A priori ideas established about domains expected to emerge in interviews Independent reviewof transcripts (except 2) to confirm and adjust domains Independent cross analyses followed by research team consensus ratings Stability check (final 2 transcripts) to ensure that the domains accurately reflect the data • Categories: General (applicable to all cases) • Typical (applicable to many cases) Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997

16. Themes and Results Intrapersonal Interpersonal Coping Rationalization Guilt Family Strains Compromising Peers Anxiety Re-Evaluating Values Shame Self-Reliance and Efficacy Increased Motivation

17. Intrapersonal “I’ve been having so many panic attacks about paying for graduate school because once I graduate I’m going to have to pay for it myself and ease the burden off my parents” Guilt Anxiety Shame

18. “My sister was not getting paid by my dad because they were trying to get money back to its investors, so she’s basically still in DA, which is debtor’s anonymous…she decided to leave the company and then basically it went bankrupt last year. So, yeah, my sister now is way better but she had to seek help outside because it was hard for her to deal with my parents.” Interpersonal Family Strains Peers

19. “I think this experience has made me more motivated to be successful and make sure I have a plan that I’m actually going to do something. I have no intention of moving back in with my parents. In that way it has made me much more motivated. I think also this has given me a lot of work experience because I’ve had to work, so I think that benefited me in the long run because I have a lot more experience when applying to grad school and for jobs, I have a lot more experience than a typical undergrad would.” Coping Rationalization Compromising Re-Evaluating Values Self-Reliance and Efficacy Increased Motivation

20. Summary of Results • Intrapersonal: • Initial stress associated with economic shock • Anxiety provoking • Questioning future • Interpersonal: • Family strains more prevalent than peer strains • Coping: • Accommodative coping • Compromising lifestyle as way of confronting economic situation • Increased efficacy and motivation not generalizable to sample

21. Discussion • Intrapersonal: no reports of lowered self-esteem • Interpersonal: family strains stem from economic loss • Academic: economic loss related to questioning professional goals • Increased need for accommodative coping in emerging adults • Iterative inquiry: • Rich elaboration of individual experiences • Explored why or why not these domains were affected

22. Conclusion and Future Directions • Economic loss may truncate emerging adulthood period • Hypothesis generation for future research • Mixed-methods • Meaningful experience of economic loss can help enhance understanding and support of young people

23. Thank you!!! Questions?

24. Results: General Themes • General: Applicable to all participants • Interpersonal changes focused on family strains • Guilt • Anxiety • Coping: • Compromising • Shift in Values • Rationalization

25. Typical Themes • Typical to more than ½ of participants • Increased self-efficacy and self-reliance • Increased motivation • Changes in peer relationships • Shame