Hardship and Life Events within the Family-Work Interface

Sociologists who study stress and mental health have identified the deleterious consequences of exposure to multiple stressors, including chronic stressors like economic hardship and more acute, undesirable life events, such as job loss or death of a loved one. Our research examines how individuals experience these stressors within the family-work interface. We focus on economic hardship: a particularly prevalent chronic stressor that has been featured prominently in stress research (Mirowsky and Ross 2003). This is especially relevant given the current economic cli-mate in North America, where the recession and job loss has dramatically affected individuals ’ financial and personal well-being. In 2007, more than one-quarter of Americans predicted their economic situations would worsen in future years because of declining family income and higher cost of living (Newport 2008). These potent trends highlight the need for systematic research to assess the mental health consequences of economic hardship indepen-dently and in combination with other stressful life events. Our interest in negative life events is motivated by theory and evidence in the stress literature