The relationship between financial strain, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, and academic and social integration in undergraduate students
Thoughts
The authors found marginal indirect effects for both models, though the confidence interval suggests considerable uncertainty about the magnitude and the practical significance of this mediation is questionable.
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financial strain, defined as perceived economic stress and lack of economic support
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We theorize that the constructs of interest (i.e., financial strain, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, and academic and social integration) are related to one another (see Figure 1).
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Given that past studies have indicated the importance of perceived stress on low-income and/or first-generation students’ outcomes, we were interested in testing the theory that perceived stress may be the primary mediating mechanism between financial strain, psychological symptomology, and academic and social integration.20–22
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university undergraduates
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The Financial Strain and Economic Support Measure (FSESM);25 only the chronic financial strain subscale was used to measure this construct.
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Financial strain was assessed with three indicators that asked whether study participants have enough money to live on each month, whether they have sufficient spending money, and how their financial situation compares to that of other people their own age
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These items include, “Does your family have enough for daily living expenses each month?” “Compared to other people your own age, how do you feel about your financial situation?” and “Do you have enough pocket money to spend?” Participants were asked to rate items on a four point scale, ranging from 1 (Plenty)to 4 (Extremelytight), a three point scale ranging from 1 (Better) to 3 (Worse), or a 2-point scale ranging from 2 (No) to 1 (Yes), depending on the question asked
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he Perceived Stress Scale (PSS),13 a brief ten item measure, was used to assess the degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful
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Participants rated items on a five-point scale, ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Veryoften). Previously reported reliability is good for this measure (Cronbach’s alpha = .85).13 Cronbach’s alpha in the present investigation was .83
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The Inventory of College Challenges for Ethnic Minority Students (ICCEMS),29 a 52 item measure, was used to assess challenges faced by college students across a range of academic and social domains
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counseling needs (e.g., “Difficulty finding a counselor”), financial worry (e.g., “Worried about family obligations”), academic demands (e.g., “Felt conflict between studying and making friends”), unclear career direction (e.g., “Worried about postgraduation plans”), social isolation, (e.g., “Felt isolated from the college community”), difficulty with academic expression, (e.g., “Felt you could not express yourself adequately in class discussions”), unfamiliarity with campus (e.g., “Had trouble accessing various campus resources”), and inability to study (e.g., “Been unable to study when you wanted to for as long as you wanted to”)
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rate items on a five point scale, ranging from 0 (Notat all) to 4 (Allthetime)
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Previously reported reliability is very good for this measure (Cronbach’s alpha = .89).29 Cronbach’s alpha in the present investigation was .91.
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The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI),32 a 53 item selfreport inventory of psychopathology and psychological distress, is used with both clinical and non-clinical populations
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somatization (SOM; e.g., “Faintness or dizziness”), obsessive-compulsive (OC; e.g., “Having to check and double-check what you do”), interpersonal sensitivity (IS; e.g., “Feeling inferior to others”), depression (DEP; e.g., “Feeling no interest in things”), anxiety (ANX; e.g., “Feeling tense or keyed up”), and phobic anxiety (PHB; e.g., “Feeling uneasy in crowds, such as shopping or at a movie”)
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asked to rate each of the items on a five point Likert scale of distress, ranging from 0 (Notatall) to 4 (Extremely
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Cronbach’s alpha in the present investigation was .94
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First-generation status was included as a covariate. The direct effect of financial strain on psychological symptoms was not significant (c’= −. 0094, p= .93; 95%CI= −.21 to .19). the indirect effect (i.e., mediation) was significantly different from zero (ab’= −.12; 95%CI= −.25 to −.01)
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First-generation status was included as a covariate. The direct effect of financial strain on academic and social integration was not significant (c’ = −.0057, p= .58; 95%CI= −.26 to .14). the indirect effect (i.e., mediation) was significantly different from zero (ab’= −.12; 95%CI= −.25 to −.01)