Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / Stuart Heckman / Maurice M. MacDonald / There were 19.8 million college students in the U.S. in the fall of 2017 (NCES, 2017). These students face many challenges and opportunities including new social networks, enhanced academic pressures, new living arrangement and new financial responsibilities. Many of these students have had positive role models who have socialized them through discussion and example (Shim, Barber, Card, Xiao, & Serido, 2010). These role models may have instilled positive self-efficacy in these students as well helping to prepare the students for the many challenges and opportunities in college. Some students have not had those role models. This research seeks to understand the impact of positive socialization and self-efficacy on students’ feelings of financial stress and then on their choices of how to cope with that stress. The financial challenges of paying for college are well publicized with 44.2 million Americans currently owing over $1.48 trillion in student loan debt (NCES, 2017). In this study, the impact of these financial challenges is viewed through the lens of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping Theory which proposes that stress is an individual perception influenced by that individual’s sense of threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). There are two sets of empirical models; the first examines the influences in the appraisal process on perceptions of financial stress using OLS regression with the second empirical model examining the influences on their coping choices using logistic regression. Both models control for influences on stress and coping choices including demographic, socio-economic and academic factors. The results inform how financial self-efficacy and financial socialization influence financial stress as they suggest the importance of enabling financial self-efficacy by parents, educators and other leaders of children.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / Martin Seay / Guided by Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional theory of stress and coping as the theoretical framework, the objective of this research was to determine the association between financial stressors and the outcomes of health, morale, and social functioning. Additionally, the impact of the individual and environment, and the appraisal and coping process were examined. A literature review was conducted based on the theoretical constructs of the individual and environment, stressful events, the appraisal and coping process, morale, social functioning, and health. The sample consisted of 811 individuals age 50 and older, evenly split between males and females, from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Respondents were mostly white, married, and retired. The majority had at least some college and owned a home. Respondents were mainly under the age of 69 and had a mean income of $95,753. The sample reported better than the median scores for morale, social functioning, subjective health, and objective health. Likewise, respondents’ control of finances and mastery scores were also better than the median. However, lower than median scores for financial stressors were reported. OLS regression was utilized to model morale and social functioning while cumulative logistic regression analysis was used to model subjective and objective health. In an effort to model subjective and objective health, morale, and social functioning as one unit, an ad hoc composite measure for all three outcomes was developed which was modeled utilizing cumulative logistic regression. Either full or partial support for some of the hypotheses was indicated. As it pertains to the financial stressor construct, there were some significant relationships with social functioning and morale as theoretically anticipated and hypothesized. Namely, ongoing financial strain was the most frequent variable of significance. However, as a whole, financial stressors were as not as significant under the models as were some of the other variables when modeling the outcomes. Mastery, control over one’s finances, coping behaviors, and positive or negative social support were more frequently significant in the modeling. Control variables of significance often included marital status, gender, education, employment status, income, age, and homeownership status. This research fills a gap by examining the influence of financial stressors individually and simultaneously on physical health, well-being, and social functioning based on a large dataset of secondary data robed in a theoretical framework. By understanding the relationship between financial stress and these outcomes, financial practitioners and educators can develop interventions to promote positive adaptations.

abstract: Socioeconomic status (SES) is linked with poorer health outcomes across the range of SES. The Reserve Capacity Model (RCM) proposes that low SES fuels repeated and/or chronic exposure to elevated levels of stress, producing deleterious emotional, psychological, social, and physiological changes that result in development of disease over time. The RCM further asserts that a relative lack of social and psychological resources, including efficacy and social support, among low SES individuals accounts for their greater vulnerability to the effects of stress. Although the links between stress, reserve capacity, and health outcomes are framed in the RCM as an ongoing process that produces disease, the majority of investigations testing the model have not examined its utility in explaining 1) coping with daily stressors or 2) symptom flares among individuals managing a chronic illness. This study investigated the effects of SES, reflected in income level, on the: 1) levels of daily financial events and financial worry; 2) relations between daily financial worry and symptoms of pain and fatigue; and 3) extent to which daily coping efficacy and social support mediated the daily financial worry-symptom relation across 21 daily diary reports collected from 220 individuals with fibromyalgia (FM). Simple correlations showed that income was inversely related to frequency of financial events and level of financial worry across 21 days. Results from multilevel models indicated that daily increases in financial worry were unrelated to pain regardless of income level, but were related to increased fatigue among individuals with lower relative to higher income. Daily efficacy and support mediated the relations between financial worry and pain and fatigue, but the extent of mediation did not differ based on high versus low income level. Taken together, the findings suggest that individuals of low versus high income encounter more frequent financial stress and experience greater daily fatigue exacerbation related to that stress, in line with the RCM. Over time, the greater exposure and reactivity to financial strain may account for the inverse relation between income and disability among those with chronic pain. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2017

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sonya L. Britt and Martin Seay / This three essay dissertation examined questions related to personal financial difficulties of military members with the aim of suggesting the most effective focal points for those involved in development of policy or programs or working directly with military members on improving their personal financial condition. The introduction (Chapter 1) describes the nature of the problem, the level of attention it has received within the civilian and military leadership structure, and generally what has been done to address it before presenting an outline of the chapters which follow. The first essay (Chapter 2) relies on theoretical guidance from stress and coping theory to examine determinants of a military member’s choice of problem-focused over emotion-focused coping strategies. The study used primary data collected from a sample of soldiers (n = 688) at a large Midwestern military installation. Its results indicated that military members with an internal locus of control and those who performed positive financial behaviors in response to a financial stressor reported lower levels of financial stress. Taking its theoretical guidance from the theory of planned behavior, the second essay (Chapter 3) examined the relationship of the behavioral antecedents of attitude toward behavior, subjective beliefs, and perceived behavioral control with behaviors related to establishing and maintaining an adequate emergency fund and maintaining positive cash flow, the term used for keeping spending at levels below income over time. The study analyzed primary data from a sample of soldiers at a large Midwestern military installation (n = 93). Of the 11 models analyzed, most were statistically significant, though, individually, the behavioral antecedents themselves did not yield statistical significance as often. Although fewer definitive findings emerged from the cash flow group of models, results of the emergency fund group indicated that attitude toward behavior and perceived behavioral control are positively influential on behaviors related to maintaining an emergency fund. The third essay (Chapter 4) detailed a study which tested the theoretical assumption that better informed consumers make better financial choices. The study examined self-assessed financial knowledge, a self-assessed measure of confidence in day-to-day personal financial management termed financial confidence, and objectively measured financial knowledge as potential determinants of certain positive and negative financial behaviors. The positive behaviors were maintenance of positive cash flow and an adequate emergency fund, and the negative behaviors were engaging in high-cost borrowing through auto title lenders, payday lenders, pawn shops, and rent-to-own stores, collectively termed alternative financial services (AFS). The study analyzed secondary data from a sample of military members collected by the 2012 National Financial Capability Study which yielded a set of 949 responses useable for the study described in this chapter. Subjective knowledge was found to be associated with emergency fund maintenance, but not positive cash flow, while objective financial knowledge and financial confidence were found to be positively associated with positive cash flow, but not emergency fund maintenance. Females and those with higher incomes were found to be more likely to maintain positive cash flow, while those with three or more dependent children and those having experienced a recent income shock were less likely to do so. Females, members with graduate degrees, and members with a higher investing risk tolerance were more likely to maintain emergency funds, though members with two or more children and those having experienced a recent income shock were less likely to do so. Subjective financial knowledge was found to be positively related to AFS use, while objective financial knowledge and financial confidence were found to be negatively associated with AFS use. Members with more dependent children and those having experienced recent income shocks were more likely to have used AFS, while those with higher incomes were less likely to have done so. The conclusion (Chapter 5) summarizes the findings of all three essays, their implications, and suggests directions for future research. It re-emphasizes the unique contributions of the essays to personal finance literature pertaining to military members and its importance for policy makers, military leaders, and anyone involved in developing or administering personal financial improvement programs for the benefit of military members.

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Yes / We examine the possible interactions of the financial cycle and fiscal position for G7 economies. We employ the innovative aggregate financial and fiscal stress indexes which are able to depict the perplexed nature of modern economies. A SVAR model is developed to investigate the effects of both financial and fiscal stress on key macroeconomic variables. The results, using two different identification methods, reveal that financial and fiscal shocks affect negatively the key macroeconomic variables. Additionally, there is a weak feedback effect from a financial shock to fiscal sector and vice versa.

Yes / In this paper, we focus on the financial and fiscal stress transmission for the G5 economies. Using financial and fiscal stress indexes, we assess the spillovers within each economy, as well as the cross-sectional effects. Two supplementary methodologies, measuring the degree of interconnectedness, are employed. Our findings indicate that the interactions between these two kinds of distress are intensive, especially during and after the Global Financial Crisis outbreak. The above reiterates the necessity for coordinated macroprudential policies, as a means to confine the adverse effects of excessive financial and fiscal stress.

The purpose of this study was to examine a sample of employed individuals who participated in credit counseling through a non-profit consumer credit counseling agency in the Mid-Atlantic. Using data collected at two points in time, this sample was examined to measure changes in personal financial variables, health status, and work outcomes. The sample respondents were also examined to determine the extent to which they instituted positive financial behaviors following participation in credit counseling. In addition, this research assessed differences in the demographics among the clients. Also studied was the extent to which individual and family characteristics, health status, financial concerns and related stress, and financial wellness accounted for the variance in work outcomes of productivity, presenteeism, and worktime used for personal financial matters. Significant changes in personal financial outcomes, health status, and work outcomes were found between the initial and follow-up study. One year following credit counseling, respondents had decreased levels of financial concerns and financial stress, experienced fewer workloss days, and spent less time using work hours to handle personal financial matters. They also indicated improvements in their level of financial wellness, health status, and job productivity. Respondents had instituted a number of positive financial behaviors since receiving credit counseling one year earlier. Most had reduced some of their personal debts and cut down on living expenses. A model of work and personal financial outcomes was presented in this study. Hierarchical regression analyses using both data sets revealed that health status and financial concerns explained a significant amount of the variance in four work outcomes: (1) productivity, (2) presenteeism, (3) work time used for personal financial matters, and (4) workloss days. Adding financial wellness as the final step in the analysis, did not explain any additional variance in each of the work outcomes. This research assessed only the demographic and personal financial variables explanatory relationships to work outcomes. Therefore, life events beyond these variables may offer additional explanation of the work outcomes. Of importance is that this research provides documentation of positive changes in personal finances and work outcomes of employed individuals who participated in credit counseling one year earlier. In addition, the research presented a model of personal financial and work outcomes that can be advanced through further research. / Ph. D.

We analyze how the impact of a change in the sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio on economic growth depends on the level of debt, the stress level on the financial market and the membership in a monetary union. A dynamic growth model is put forward demonstrating that debt affects macroeconomic activity in a non-linear manner due to amplifications from the financial sector. Employing dynamic country-specific and dynamic panel threshold regression methods, we study the non-linear relation between the growth rate and the debt-to-GDP ratio using quarterly data for sixteen industrialized countries for the period 1981Q1-2013Q2. We find that the debt-to-GDP ratio has impaired economic growth primarily during times of high financial stress and only for countries of the European Monetary Union and not for the stand-alone countries in our sample. A high debt-to-GDP ratio by itself does not seem to necessarily negatively affect growth if financial markets are calm. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

We analyze how the impact of a change in the sovereign debt-to-GDP ratio on economic growth depends on the level of debt, the stress level on the financial market and the membership in a monetary union. A dynamic growth model is put forward demonstrating that debt affects macroeconomic activity in a non-linear manner due to amplifications from the financial sector. Employing dynamic country-specific and dynamic panel threshold regression methods, we study the non-linear relation between the growth rate and the debt-to-GDP ratio using quarterly data for sixteen industrialized countries for the period 1981Q1-2013Q2. We find that the debt-to-GDP ratio has impaired economic growth primarily during times of high financial stress and only for countries of the European Monetary Union and not for the stand-alone countries in our sample. A high debt-to-GDP ratio by itself does not seem to necessarily negatively affect growth if financial markets are calm. (authors' abstract)