Abstract
The percentage of missing data among economic-related items is likely to be particularly high. This study aimed at examining the amount, mechanisms, and variables associated with missingness of different family members participating in a family economic stress study. Portuguese emerging adults (N = 418) and their parents (N = 748) were required to answer objective and subjective economic items and complete measures assessing individual and family psychological functioning. Results showed that, for all participants, non-response was more likely to occur among objective economic items than among subjective ones. Children presented higher percentages of item/construct-level missingness than parents, which could reflect a reduced financial awareness on the part of these family members. Although the identification of mechanisms explaining missing data proved to be complex, family members’ missingness was associated with sociodemographic and psychological indicators, suggesting that non-answers do not occur purely by chance. Implications of these findings for further family economic stress research are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For simplicity, throughout this work, we will refer to male and female parental figures as fathers and mothers, respectively.
References
Aboim, S. (2010). Gender cultures and the division of labour in contemporary Europe: A cross-national perspective. The Sociological Review, 58, 171–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2010.01899.x.
Acock, A. (2005). Working with missing values. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 67(4), 1012–1028. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00191.x.
Alsemgeest, L. (2014). Family communication about money: Why the taboo? Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(16), 516–523. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n16p516.
Atwood, J. D. (2012). Couples and money: The last taboo. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 40, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2011.600674.
Beatty, P., & Herrmann, D. (2002). To answer or not to answer: Decision processes related to survey item non-response. In R. M. Groves, D. A. Dillman, J. L. Eltinge, & R. J. A. Little (Eds.), Survey non-response. New York: Wiley.
Cohen, J. W. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 386–396.
Conger, R. D., & Elder, G. H. (1994). Families in troubled times: Adapting to change in rural America. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Conger, R. D., Rueter, M. A., & Elder, G. H. (1999). Couple resilience to economic pressure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 54–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.54.
Costigan, C., & Cox, M. J. (2001). Fathers’ participation in family research: Is there a self-selection bias? Journal of Family Psychology, 15(4), 706–720. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.15.4.706.
Danes, S. M. (1994). Parental perceptions of children’s financial socialization. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 5, 127–149.
Enders, C. K. (2010). Applied missing data analysis. New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
Essig, L., & Winter, J. K. (2009). Item non-response to financial questions in household surveys: An experimental study of interviewer and mode effects. Fiscal Studies, 30(3/4), 367–390. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2009.00100.x.
Eurostat. (2015). Being in Europe today. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-05-14-031.
Eurostat. (2017). Share of young people living with their parents. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/youth/statistics-illustrated.
Falconier, M. K. (2010). Female anxiety and male depression: Links between economic strain and psychological aggression in Argentinean couples. Family Relations, 59(4), 424–438. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2010.00613.x.
Fonseca, G., Crespo, C., McCubbin, L. D., Areia, N., & Relvas, A. P. (2018). Psychometric study of the Portuguese version of the Family Distress Index (FDI). Family, Systems, & Health, 36, 159–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000342.
Fonseca, G., Cunha, D., Crespo, C., & Relvas, A. P. (2016). Families in the context of macroeconomic crises: A systematic review. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(6), 687–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000230.
Graham, J. W. (2008). Missing data analysis: Making it work in the real world. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 549–576. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085530.
Heeringa, S. G., Hill, D. H., & Howell, D. A. (1995). Unfolding brackets for reducing item nonresponse in economic surveys. Retrieved from https://psidonline.isr.umich.edu/publications/Papers/tsp/1995-01_Reducing_Item_Nonresponse.pdf.
Hilton, J. M., & Devall, E. L. (1997). The Family Economic Strain Scale: Development and evaluation of the instrument with single- and two-parent families. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 18(9), 247–271. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024974829218.
Johnson, D. R., & Young, R. (2011). Toward best practices in analyzing datasets with missing data: Comparisons and recommendations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(5), 926–945. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2011.00861.x.
Juster, T. F., & Smith, J. P. (1997). Improving the quality of economic data: Lessons from the HRS and AHEAD. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 92(440), 1268–1278. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1997.10473648.
Kalmijn, M., & Liefbroer, A. C. (2011). Nonresponse of secondary respondents in multi-actor surveys: Determinants, consequences, and possible remedies. Journal of Family Issues, 32(6), 735–766. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X10390184.
Lanz, M., Scabini, E., Tagliabue, S., & Morgano, A. (2015). How should family interdependence be studied? The methodological issues of non-independence. TPM-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 22, 169–180. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM22.2.1.
Lanz, M., Sorgente, A., & Danes, S. M. (2020). Implicit family financial socialization and emerging adults’ financial well-being: A multi-informant approach. Emerging Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696819876752.
Lanz, M., Sorgente, A., & Tagliabue, S. (2018). Inter-rater agreement indices for multiple informant methodology. Marriage & Family Review, 54(2), 148–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2017.1340919.
Leininger, L. J., & Kalil, A. (2014). Economic strain and children’s behavior in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Journal of Marriage and Family, 76(5), 998–1010. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12140.
Leinonen, J. A., Solantaus, T. S., & Punamäki, R. (2002). The specific mediating paths between economic hardship and the quality of parenting. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26, 423–435. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250143000364.
Little, J. R., & Rubin, D. (2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
McCubbin, H. I., Thompson, A. I., & Elver, K. M. (2001). Family Distress Index (FDI). In H. I. McCubbin, A. I. Thompson, & M. A. McCubbin (Eds.), Family measures: Stress, coping and resiliency. Inventories for research and practice (pp. 783–788). University of Wisconsin System.
Neppl, T. K., Senia, J. M., & Donnellan, M. B. (2016). Effects of economic hardship: Testing the family stress model over time. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(1), 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000168.
Novo, R. F., Duarte-Silva, M. E., & Peralta, E. (2004). Escalas de bem-estar psicológico: Versão reduzida. Manuscrito não publicado.
Pahl, J. M. (1989). Money and marriage. London: MacMillan.
Pedro, M., & Francisco, R. (2014). Family economic pressure questionnaire-Portuguese version (version for research). Lisboa: Universidade de Lisboa.
Ponnet, K., Wouters, E., Goedemé, T., & Mortelmans, D. (2014). Family financial stress, parenting and problem behavior in adolescents: An actor–partner interdependence approach. Journal of Family Issues, 43, 1752–1769.
Ratelle, C. F., Duchesne, S., & Guay, F. (2017). Predicting school adjustment from multiple perspectives on parental behaviors. Journal of Adolescence, 54, 60–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.11.008.
Romo, K. L. (2011). Money talks: Revealing and concealing financial information in families. Journal of Family Education, 11(4), 264–281.
Rusu, P. P., Hilpert, P., Falconier, M., & Bodenmann, G. (2017). Economic strain and support in couple: The mediating role of positive emotions. Stress and Health. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2794.
Ryff, C., & Keyes, C. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods, 7, 147–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.2.147.
Serido, J., Shim, S., Xiao, J. J., Card, N., & Tang, C. (2014). Financial adaptation among college students: Helping students cope with financial strain. Journal of College Student Development, 55(3), 310–316.
Simões, M. R. (2000). Investigação no âmbito da aferição nacional do teste das Matrizes Progressivas Coloridas de Raven (MPCR). Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian/Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.
Stein, C. H., Abraham, K. M., Bonar, E. E., Leith, J. E., Kraus, S. W., Hamill, A. C., … Fogo, W. R. (2011). Family ties in tough times: How young adults and their parents view the U.S. economic crisis. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(3), 449–454. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023697
Stratton, P., Bland, J., Janes, E., & Lask, J. (2010). Developing an indicator of family function and a practicable outcome measure for systemic family and couple therapy: The SCORE. Journal of Family Therapy, 32, 232–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14676427.2010.00507.x.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Tagliabue, S., & Donato, S. (2015). Missing data in family research: Examining different levels of missingness. TPM-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 22(2), 199–217. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM22.2.3.
Tanner, J. L. (2006). Recentering during emerging adulthood: A critical turning point in life span human development. In J. J. Arnett & J. L. Tanner (Eds.). Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 21–55). APA Books.
Tourangeau, R., & Yan, T. (2007). Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychological Bulletin, 133(5), 859–883. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.5.859.
Trachtman, R. (1999). The money taboo: Its effects in everyday life and in the practice of psychotherapy. Clinical Social Work Journal, 27(3), 275–288.
Trigo, M. Canudo, N. Branco, F., & Silva, D. (2010). Estudo das propriedades psicométricas da Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) na população portuguesa. Psychologica, 53, 353–378.
Vilaça, M., Sousa, B., Stratton, P., & Relvas, A. P. (2015). The 15-item Systemic Clinical Outcome and Routine Evaluation (SCORE-15) Scale: Portuguese validation studies. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 18, e87. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2015.95.
Voydanoff, P. (1990). Economic distress and family relations: A review of the eighties. Journal of Marriage and Family, 52(4), 1099–1115.
Young, R., & Johnson, D. (2013). Methods for handling missing secondary respondent data. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-737.2012.01021.x.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/114861/2016) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology to the first author.
Funding
This research was supported by a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/114861/2016) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for Gabriela Fonseca.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors do not have any conflict of interests that might be interpreted as influencing this work.
Ethical Approval
The Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology approved this research data collection.
Human and Animal Rights
The Ethical principles of the American Psychology Association and the Portuguese Psychology College’s regarding humans and protection of personal data were followed.
Informed Consent
Informed consent forms were obtained from all participants in this study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fonseca, G., Tagliabue, S., Crespo, C. et al. Missingness Amount and Mechanisms in Family Economic Stress Research: Mapping (Non)answers to Economic-Related Variables of Fathers, Mothers, and Emerging Adult Children. J Fam Econ Iss 42, 397–412 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09745-1
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09745-1