Poverty has its fair share of health problems and many poor women blame it on their children and dysfunctional love life, according to the findings of the new study.
The study was conducted by researchers Kristin Mickelson of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University, and Emily Hazlett of Kent State University and the Northeast Ohio Medical University. Previous studies have established that poor mothers and women in bad relationships often suffer from depression and anxiety. The researchers of the new study found that the way most poor women answer the questions "why me?" for their state of poverty is a clear indicator of their health status.
The study was conducted on 66 low-income mothers and was part of the larger "Mother's Outcome Matters" study in Northeast Ohio. Researchers noted that women who blamed their poverty on having children at an early age were more likely to suffer greater levels of depression, possibly because they felt some sense of guilt, blame or helplessness. Similarly, women who accredited their poverty to problems in their romantic relationships experienced more anxiety. According to researchers, these instances may be a reflection of each woman's sense of fear, or lack of control over issues such as domestic violence, the poor spending habits of their partners, or because they do not receive child support. Women who pointed fingers at the government and blamed discriminatory practices such as unequal pay to women for their poverty suffered from both greater depression and anxiety. Only a few blamed fate for their situation.
"By understanding how women answer the question of who or what is to blame for their current financial situation, we can begin to develop more effective interventions and policies," says Mickelson, in a press statement.
"We are better able to understand whether such women will tend to suffer depression or anxiety, and how they think about their chances of being able to rise above their current social class and situations."
The findings suggest that poor women that blame children and their love life for their state of poverty may benefit the most from health programs.
Findings of the study were published online in the Springer's journal Sex Roles.
