Financial Hardship, Hope, and Life Satisfaction Among Un/Underemployed Individuals With Psychiatric Diagnoses: A Mediation Analysis

Oscar Jiménez-Solomon; Ryan Primrose; Ingyu Moon; Melanie Wall; Hanga Galfalvy; Pablo Méndez-Bustos; Amanda G Cruz; Margaret Swarbrick; Taína Laing; Laurie Vite; Maura Kelley; Elizabeth Jennings; Roberto Lewis-Fernández

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.867421

Financial Hardship, Hope, and Life Satisfaction Among Un/Underemployed Individuals With Psychiatric Diagnoses: A Mediation Analysis

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 22:13:867421. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.867421. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Oscar Jiménez-Solomon^{1

2}, Ryan Primrose^{1

3}, Ingyu Moon⁴, Melanie Wall^{1

5

6}, Hanga Galfalvy^{5

6}, Pablo Méndez-Bustos^{1

7}, Amanda G Cruz^{1

8}, Margaret Swarbrick^{9

10}, Taína Laing¹¹, Laurie Vite¹¹, Maura Kelley¹², Elizabeth Jennings¹³, Roberto Lewis-Fernández^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
² Center on Poverty and Social Policy, School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
³ Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
⁴ Nyack College, New York, NY, United States.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, United States.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
⁷ Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Maule, Talca, Chile.
⁸ Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, United States.
⁹ Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies, Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University - The State University of New Jersy, Piscataway, NJ, United States.
¹⁰ Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey, Freehold, NJ, United States.
¹¹ Baltic Street AEH, Inc., Brooklyn, NY, United States.
¹² Mental Health Peer Connection, Western New York Independent Living, Buffalo, NY, United States.
¹³ National Disability Institute, Washington, DC, United States.

Abstract

Background: Individuals with psychiatric diagnoses who are unemployed or underemployed are likely to disproportionately experience financial hardship and, in turn, lower life satisfaction (LS). Understanding the mechanisms though which financial hardship affects LS is essential to inform effective economic empowerment interventions for this population.

Aim: To examine if subjective financial hardship (SFH) mediates the relationship between objective financial hardship (OFH) and LS, and whether hope, and its agency and pathways components, further mediate the effect of SFH on LS among individuals with psychiatric diagnoses seeking employment.

Methods: We conducted structured interviews with participants (N = 215) of two peer-run employment programs using indicators of OFH and SFH and standardized scales for hope (overall hope, hope agency, and hope pathways) and LS. Three structural equation models were employed to test measurement models for OFH and SFH, and mediational relationships. Covariates included gender, age, psychiatric diagnosis, race/ethnicity, education, income, employment status, SSI/SSDI receipt, and site.

Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for items measuring OFH and SFH supported two separate hypothesized factors. OFH had a strong and significant total effect on SFH [standardized beta (B) = 0.68] and LS (B = 0.49), and a weak-to-moderate effect on hope (B = -0.31). SFH alone mediated up to 94% of the effect of OFH on LS (indirect effect B = -0.46, p < 0.01). The effect of SFH on LS through hope was small (indirect effect B = -0.09, p < 0.05), primarily through hope agency (indirect effect B = -0.13, p < 0.01) and not hope pathways. Black and Hispanic ethno-racial identification seemed to buffer the effect of financial hardship on hope and LS. Individuals identifying as Black reported significantly higher overall hope (B = 0.41-0.47) and higher LS (B = 0.29-0.46), net of the effect of OFH and SFH.

Conclusion: SFH is a strong mediator of the relationship between OFH and LS in our study of unemployed and underemployed individuals with psychiatric diagnoses. Hope, and particularly its agency component, further mediate a modest but significant proportion of the association between SFH and LS. Economic empowerment interventions for this population should address objective and subjective financial stressors, foster a sense of agency, and consider the diverse effects of financial hardship across ethno-racial groups.

Keywords: financial hardship; hope; life satisfaction; poverty; unemployment.