Leiden University Student Repository

Mohr, Theresa (2021)

Money or Misery? The Family Stress Theory in Times of COVID-19: The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the financial and mental well-being of Dutch citizens

Bachelor thesis | Psychologie (BSc)

The Family Stress Theory asserts that financial strain leads to a lower family relationship quality through the mediating role of mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a toll on societies and economies worldwide, causing many people to lose their incomes and cases of domestic violence to rise. In the present study we investigated the Family Stress Theory in the context of COVID-19 in order to have the necessary knowledge to counter negative consequences such as the increased physical child abuse during the pandemic. We wanted to know whether financial strain increased between the baseline average level of financial strain during the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019 and the post-pandemic onset months of the year 2020. Furthermore, we investigated whether a pre- to post-pandemic onset change in financial strain was associated with a pre- to post-pandemic onset change in family relationship quality and whether a change of mental health problems during the same timeframe...Show moreThe Family Stress Theory asserts that financial strain leads to a lower family relationship quality through the mediating role of mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a toll on societies and economies worldwide, causing many people to lose their incomes and cases of domestic violence to rise. In the present study we investigated the Family Stress Theory in the context of COVID-19 in order to have the necessary knowledge to counter negative consequences such as the increased physical child abuse during the pandemic. We wanted to know whether financial strain increased between the baseline average level of financial strain during the pre-pandemic years 2017-2019 and the post-pandemic onset months of the year 2020. Furthermore, we investigated whether a pre- to post-pandemic onset change in financial strain was associated with a pre- to post-pandemic onset change in family relationship quality and whether a change of mental health problems during the same timeframe mediated this relationship. We took data from 321 Dutch participants living in a household with a partner and at least one child from the nationally representative LISS panel. Results showed that financial strain was higher before than after the COVID-19 onset in the Netherlands. Furthermore, while the pre- to post-pandemic onset change in financial strain was negatively associated with a pre- to post-pandemic onset change in family relationship quality, this relationship was not mediated by a change of mental health problems during the same timeframe. Controlling for marital status had no effect. Although findings only partly support the Family Stress Theory in the context of COVID-19, insights are valuable because they give practical implications for governments and institutions that help preventing extreme cases of domestic violence such as paying increased attention to symptoms of distress.Show less

Author

Mohr, Theresa

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Social, economic and organisational psychology

Supervisors

Dijk, W. van
Dillen, L. van

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en