Chzhen, Y, Howarth, C and Main, G orcid.org/0000-0002-6191-5269 (2022) Deprivation and intra-family conflict: Children as agents in the Family Stress Model. Journal of Marriage and Family, 84 (1). pp. 121-140. ISSN 0022-2445
Abstract
Objective
The study applies an adapted Family Stress Model (FSM) to analyze the relationship between child material deprivation and intra-family conflict about money using a nationally representative survey of children in England in 2018.
Background
The standard FSM holds that poverty is experienced by parents who, in turn, impact children. Drawing on new social studies of childhood, the authors posit that the model does not recognize children as social actors—with direct experiences of poverty—nor as social agents who co-construct parent–child relationships in a context of poverty.
Method
The authors use secondary survey data from Fair Shares and Families, which investigated children's and parents' experiences of, and involvement in, the sharing of family resources. The authors estimate linear structural equation models to test an adapted FSM, which includes separate pathways (for parents and children) from economic hardship to intra-family conflict.
Results
Both parent- and child-reported economic pressure and psychological distress have significant direct and indirect associations with intra-family conflict. The adapted model works the same way in lower and higher income households, as well as in lone parent and couple-headed families.
Conclusion
Children's experiences as social actors and influence as social agents are important in shaping parent–child relationships. This suggests that the standard FSM is limited in its insights about how economic hardship affects children and families and its policy applications for interventions to mitigate the impacts of child poverty. Research applying the FSM should seek to conceptualize children as active “child-beings,” rather than as passive “adult-becomings.”
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Journal of Marriage and Family published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | child well-being; children; family stress; poverty |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) ES/N015916/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jul 2021 10:40 |
Last Modified: | 07 Mar 2023 09:43 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/jomf.12791 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:176422 |