Each of the economic hardship constructs was based on a single indicator. We asked the spouse who handles family finances to provide information about their economic situation. Thus, these data came from either the husband or wife or, in some cases, from both of them if they were equally involved in the family's economic activities. Family per capita income includes total income from all sources (e,g,, wages, interest, business profits, etc) divided by the number of family members. This measure correlates highly (r = ,98) with family income divided by family need (the poverty line for a family of a particular size) and thus appears to adjust for economies of scale achieved with larger family sizes. Both parents responded to four items (1 = yes, 0 = no) that assessed unstable work: (a) changing jobs for a worse one, (b) trouble at work such as demotions, (c) being laid off or fired, and (d) other involuntary losses of work. Mother and father responses were summed to create a single index for the family. (author abstract)