Abstract
The FAAR model (Patterson in Fam Syst Med 6(2):202–237, 1988) posits that following a stressor, demands, capabilities, and meanings can contribute to bonadaptation (i.e., adaptation that promotes wellbeing). The purpose of the current study is to test how financial and relational demands, capabilities, and meanings are associated with relationship commitment and coparenting (i.e., bonadaptation) following a financial stressor. We used data from the Building Strong Families (BSF) sample (i.e., primarily lower-income, unmarried couples; N = 1396). First, results showed that predictors of coparenting were more numerous than predictors of commitment. Second, all facets of the FAAR model—demands, capabilities, and meanings—were evident as predictors of bonadaptation. Finally, comparing the results with the results of a previous paper (i.e., a nationally-representative sample of married couples; Dew et al. in J Fam Econ Issues 39(3):405–421, 2018), relationship maintenance behaviors and financial support were capabilities for both samples, whereas other capabilities and meanings were context-specific (e.g., relational support significant in Dew et al. sample but not BSF sample). These patterns suggest that although some of the avenues to bonadaptation may differ depending on the sample, it is possible for couples to thrive not just in spite of financial stressors but even because of them; that is, financial stressors can serve as catalysts for positive relational growth.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin, R. R., & Brunner, J. F. (1995). Development of a parenting alliance inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24(1), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2401_4.
Bandalos, D. (2002). The effects of item parceling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 78–102. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0901_5.
Britt, S. L., Hill, E. J., LeBaron, A. B., Lawson, D. R., & Bean, R. A. (2017). Tightwads and spenders: Predicting financial conflict in couple relationships. Journal of Financial Planning, 30(5), 36–42.
Brown, S. L., & Kawamura, S. (2010). Relationship quality among cohabitors and marrieds in older adulthood. Social Science Research, 39, 777–786. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.04.010.
Bryant, C. M., & Conger, R. D. (1999). Marital success and domains of social support in long-term relationships: Does the influence of network members ever end? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 437–450. https://doi.org/10.2307/353760.
Campbell, C. L., & Demi, A. S. (2000). Adult children of fathers missing in action (MIA): An examination of emotional distress, grief, and family hardiness. Family Relations, 49(3), 267–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00267.x.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310.
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 193–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01259.
Curran, M. A., McDaniel, B. T., Pollitt, A. M., & Totenhagen, C. J. (2015). Gender, emotion work, and relationship quality: A daily diary study. Sex Roles, 73, 157–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0495-8.
Curran, M. A., Parrott, E., Ahn, S., Serido, J., & Shim, S. (2018). Young adults' life outcomes: Perceived financial influences from parents, the romantic partner, and young adults' own financial behaviors. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39, 445–456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-018-9572-9.
Dew, J. P. (2007). Two sides of the same coin? The differing roles of assets and consumer debt in marriage. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28, 89–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-006-9051-6.
Dew, J. (2009). The gendered meanings of assets for divorce. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 30(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-008-9138-3.
Dew, J. P., Anderson, B. L., Skogrand, L., & Chaney, C. (2017). Financial issues in strong African American marriages: A strengths-based, qualitative approach. Family Relations, 66, 287–301. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12248.
Dew, J. P., LeBaron, A. B., & Allsop, D. B. (2018). Can stress build relationships? Predictors of increased marital commitment resulting from the 2007–2009 recession. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39(3), 405–421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-018-9566-7.
Enders, C. K. (2010). Applied missing data analysis. New York: The Guilford Press.
Feinberg, M. E. (2003). The internal structure and ecological context of coparenting: A framework for research and intervention. Parenting: Science and Practice, 3(2), 95–131. doi:10.1207/S15327922PAR0302_01
Fincham, F. D., Beach, S. R., Lambert, N., Stillman, T., & Braithwaite, S. (2008). Spiritual behaviors and relationship satisfaction: A critical analysis of the role of prayer. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27(4), 362–388. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2008.27.4.362.
Furstenberg, F. F. (2014). Fifty years of family change: From consensus to complexity. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 654(1), 12–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716214524521.
Greenfield, P. M. (2017). Cultural change over time: Why replicability should not be the gold standard in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 762–771. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617707314.
Guzzo, K. B. (2014). New partners, more kids: Multiple-partner fertility in the United States. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 654(1), 66–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716214525571.
Harknett, K. (2008). Mate availability and unmarried parent relationships. Demography, 45(3), 555–571. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0012.
Hill, E., Allsop, D. B., LeBaron, A. B., & Bean, R. A. (2017). How do money, sex, and stress influence marital instability? Journal of Financial Therapy, 8(1), 21–42. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1135.
Jamison, T. B., Ganong, L., & Proulx, C. M. (2017). Unmarried coparenting in the context of poverty: Understanding the relationship between stress, family resource management, and resilience. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 38(3), 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-016-9518-z.
Kapp, L., & Brown, O. (2011). Resilience in families adapting to autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 21(3), 459–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2011.10820482.
Kelley, H. H., LeBaron, A. B., & Hill, E. J. (2018). Financial stress and marital quality: The moderating influence of couple communication. Journal of Financial Therapy, 9(2), 18–36. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1176.
Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). New York, NY: The Guildford Press.
Le, B., & Agnew, C. (2003). Commitment and its theorized determinants: A meta-analysis of the investment model. Personal Relationships, 10, 37–57.
LeBaron, A. B., Holmes, E. K., Yorgason, J. B., Hill, E. J., & Allsop, D. B. (2019). Feminism and couple finance: Power as a mediator between financial processes and relationship outcomes. Sex Roles, 81(3), 140–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0986-5.
Little, T. D. (2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. New York: The Guildford Press.
Lundberg, S., Pollak, R. A., & Stearns, J. (2016). Family inequality: Diverging patterns in marriage, cohabitation, and childbearing. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30, 79–102. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.30.2.79.
MacCallum, R. C., & Austin, J. T. (2000). Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 201–226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.201.
Marks, L. D., Dollahite, D. C., & Baumgartner, J. (2010). In God we trust: Qualitative findings on finances, family, and faith from a diverse sample. Family Relations, 59, 439–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00614.x.
Patterson, J. M. (1988). Families experiencing stress: I. The family adjustment and adaptation response model: II. Applying the FAAR model to health-related issues for intervention and research. Family Systems Medicine, 6(2), 202–237. doi:10.1037/h0089739.
Pedro, M. F., Ribeiro, T., & Shelton, K. H. (2012). Marital satisfaction and partners’ parenting practices: The mediating role of coparenting behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 509–522. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029121.
Prawitz, A. D., Kalkowski, J. C., & Cohart, J. (2013). Responses to economic pressure by low-income families: Financial distress and hopefulness. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 34(1), 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-012-9288-1.
Serido, J., Curran, M., Wilmarth, M., Ahn, S., Shim, S., & Ballard, J. (2015). The unique role of parents and romantic partners on young adults’ financial attitudes and behaviors. Family Relations, 64, 696–710. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12164.
Shapiro, M. (2007). Money: A therapeutic tool for couples therapy. Family Process, 46, 279–291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2007.00211.x.
Skogrand, L., Johnson, A. C., Horrocks, A. M., & DeFrain, J. (2011). Financial management practices of couples with great marriages. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 32, 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-010-9195-2.
Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J. (1992). Assessing commitment in personal relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 54(3), 595–608. https://doi.org/10.2307/353245.
Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J., & Whitton, S. W. (2002). Communication, conflict, and commitment: Insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey. Family Process, 41, 659–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.00659.x.
Totenhagen, C. J., Wilmarth, M. J., Serido, J., Curran, M. A., & Shim, S. (2020). Pathways from financial knowledge to relationship satisfaction: The roles of financial behaviors, perceived shared financial values with the romantic partner, and debt. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-019-09611-9
United States Census Bureau. (2017). Educational attainment-People 25 years old and over by median income and sex. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html
Waller, M. R. (2012). Cooperation, conflict, or disengagement? Coparenting styles and father involvement in fragile families. Family Process, 51(3), 325–342.
Wilcox, W. B., & Dew, J. P. (2016). The social and cultural predictors of generosity in marriage: Gender egalitarianism, religiosity, and familism. Journal of Family Issues, 37, 97–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/01925.
Wood, R. G., McConnell, S., Moore, Q., Clarkwest, A., & Hsueh, J. (2012). The effects of building strong families: A healthy marriage and relationship skills education program for unmarried parents. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 31(2), 228–325.
Funding
Funding was provided by Administration for Children and Families (Grant No. 90PD0287-01).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
IRB approval for the research project was secured by the company, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Informed Consent
All participants signed a consent form prior to participation and the person administering the form also signed their name.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
Appendix document #1 correlations among key study variables and covariates.
Pearson correlation coefficients were estimated to gauge bivariate relationships between variables. As displayed in Appendix Table 6, all correlations were in expected directions; financial demands were negatively associated with bonadaptation; financial capabilities, relational capabilities, financial meanings, and relational meanings were positively associated with bonadaptation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LeBaron, A.B., Curran, M.A., Li, X. et al. Financial Stressors as Catalysts for Relational Growth: Bonadaptation Among Lower-Income, Unmarried Couples. J Fam Econ Iss 41, 424–441 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09666-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09666-z