The Experience of Stressors and Hassles among Rural Adolescents from Low- and Middle-Income Households in the USA

Gary W. Evans
Francoise Marie Vermeylen
Alex Barash
Emily G. Lefkowitz
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

Rachel L. Hutt
Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

Citation: Evans, Gary W., Francoise Marie Vermeylen, Alex Barash, Emily G. Lefkowitz and Rachel L. Hutt (2009). "The Experience of Stressors and Hassles among Rural Adolescents from Low- and Middle-Income Households in the USA ." Children, Youth and Environments 19 (2): 164-175. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

Poverty matters for children's and youths' psychological and physical health. Using experience sampling methodology over a four-day period, we show that the hour-to-hour experiences of white, low- and middle-income youth (M= 17.12 years) are different. Poor rural youth in the United States experience more hassles and stressors than their middle-income counterparts. This is particularly true for the family setting. However, physical and social stressors appear equally prominent for low- and middle-income adolescents. Family socioeconomic status does not appear to influence stressor exposure at school or with friends. These data are drawn from a neglected population in the stress l iterature, namely low- and middle-income children living in rural households.

Keywords: adolescents, stress, socioeconomic status, rural, poverty