Associations between Financial Avoidance, Emotional Distress, and Relationship Conflict Frequency in Emerging Adults in College

Abstract

Some research shows that college students are not aware of their financial situation and even avoid engaging with their finances. Research has yet to investigate how this financial avoidance is associated with emotional and relational health for college students in romantic relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the associations between financial avoidance and conflict frequency. Emotional distress was included as a possible mediator of the association. Results revealed that for both men and women, higher financial avoidance was indirectly associated with increased conflict frequency with their partner through increased emotional distress. A direct association was found for men. These results are important as they may give insight into increased mental health issues and relational distress in college students. Implications for practice are discussed. Relationships and FinancesRomantic relationships in college. Although a complex process, forming and sustaining healthy romantic relationships during emerging adulthood is considered one of Journal of Financial Therapy Volume 8, Issue 2 (2017) ISSN: 1945-7774 CC by-NC 4.0 2017 Financial Therapy Association 65 ISSN: 1945-7774 CC by-NC 4.0 2017 Financial Therapy Association 702.122, p =.547; CFI = 1.00; TLI = 1.00; RMSEA = .000; SRMR = .014. Standardized factor loadings were .94 for men's depression and .95 for women's depression, .86 for men's anxiety and .89 for women's anxiety, .72 for men's stress and .82 for women's stress.Conflict frequency. Conflict frequency was measured by asking respondents about the amount of conflict that existed across nine domains of the relationships (Kluwer & Johnson, 2007). This scale was originally adapted from Van De Vliert (1996, 1997). The questions stemmed from the following: "How often did you have a difference of opinion, disagreement, fight, or argument about": (a) money, (b) division of housework, (c) division of childcare, (d) family or in-laws, (e) amount of time spent together, (f) how to spend leisure time, (g) physical intimacy (e.g., sex), (h) emotional intimacy, and (i) goals in life. Responses ranged from 1 never to 7 very often, items were averaged, and higher scores indicated more frequent conflict (Men: M = 2.91, S.D. = 1.08; women: M = 2.63, S.D. = .95). Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients were .89 for men and .86 for women. Control variables.We included several important control variables-age, hours worked, income, amount of student loans, credit card debt, amount of financial aid, amount of aid from family, relationship length, and relationship status-because of their potential relationship to financial health and well-being (Archuleta, Dale, & Spann, 2013). All variables were scored to be continuous (except relationship status), so that higher scores reflected higher/more of that scale. The following categories of relationship status were dummy coded (0, 1): Dating and cohabiting, dating and not cohabiting, engaged, and married. Analytic PlanDescriptive statistics and bivariate...

Financial Management and Marital Quality: A Phenomenological Inquiry

“…Evelyn (Ahmed) who reported she did not know much about their finances also reported that they did not typically talk about finances. These findings align with Novak and Johnson (2017) Dew and Stewart (2012) found a positive association between economic pressure, communication issues, and deeper underlying issues within marriage regarding financial conflict, where lower financial conflicts were associated with satisfaction of communication, respect, commitment, and equal levels of economic power by both spouses. Evelyn reported, "I think historically; it was probably more stressful [to talk about].…”

Emerging adulthood milestones, perceived capability, and psychological well‐being while transitioning to adulthood: Evidence from a national study

“…Most studies that have examined the financial aspect of emerging adults or young adults focus on college students (e.g., Archuleta et al, 2013;Novak & Johnson, 2017;Shim et al, 2010;Xiao et al, 2009). These studies generally show an association between financial worry, financial stress, and financial and psychological well-being among college enrolled young people.…”

“…Not engaging in responsible financial tasks has been shown to have a negative impact on the quality of romantic relationships among college students (Novak & Johnson, 2017). Using emotional distress as a mediator factor, Novak and Johnson (2017) examined the association between avoiding financial responsibilities and relationship conflict.…”

“…Not engaging in responsible financial tasks has been shown to have a negative impact on the quality of romantic relationships among college students (Novak & Johnson, 2017). Using emotional distress as a mediator factor, Novak and Johnson (2017) examined the association between avoiding financial responsibilities and relationship conflict. Their study found that avoidance of financial responsibilities was related to frequent conflict in a romantic relationship through emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety, and stress.…”

“…Psychological well-being has three components. These include evaluative well-being or life satisfaction (Beckmeyer & Cromwell, 2019;Steptoe et al, 2015), eudaimonic well-being that includes relationship satisfaction (Arnett, 2000;G omez-L opez et al, 2019), and hedonic or emotional well-being (Novak & Johnson, 2017;Steptoe et al, 2015). The model also includes emerging adults' milestones-related factors, such as relationship status, financial responsibility, and income, which have been associated with well-being in past studies (e.g., Arnett, 2000;Settersten Jr. & Ray, 2010;Zukerman et al, 2011).…”