Stress and families project

The Stress and Families Project was undertaken to investigate the relationship between life situation and mental health among low-income mothers, the group at greatest risk for depression. This longitudinal research project was interdisciplinary in approach and involved interview and observation data on mothers, children, and fathers. The participants were 43 low-income mothers who were recruited for the study without regard to their current mental health status. Each woman had at least one child between three and seven years of age. Approximately one-half were white and one-half African-American, and within each of those groups approximately one-half were single and one-half living with a husband or boyfriend. The women ranged in age from 21 to 44 and represented every legal marital status. Data were collected by teams of two researchers conducting interviews and observations in the women's homes over a period of several months. Interview topics included a description of a typical day in the life of the family; mental health assessment including measures of locus of control, self-esteem, stability of self-image, depression, and anxiety; social network; employment; generational change; current life conditions and stresses; social service institutions; nutrition; life events; coping; discrimination; six observations of the child; interviews on parenting with mothers and consenting fathers; and interviews with the children on their relationships with their parent(s). The Murray Center holds copies of all paper data, including child observations and parenting interviews, as well as computer-accessible data.