Stress and Unemployment in Rural Nonfarm Couples: A Study of Hardships and Coping Resources

This study was designed to explore effects of unemployment on stress with rural nonfarm families. Specifically, relationships were analyzed among increases in financial management, increases in financial arguments, and coping resources on stress. Eighty-eight husbands and wives (44 couples) participated in the study. The study determined that increases in financial arguments are more predictive of stress than actual changes in financial management, especially for wives. Avoidance coping was predictive of stress and mediated the relationship between financial arguments and stress for both husbands and wives. Implications for counselors and educators are discussed.