Trajectories of perceived economic hardship: Relations with mother’s and child’s mental health and the role of self-esteem

Trajectories of poverty influence the mental health of mothers and children. Previous studies utilize objective measures despite the importance of subjective measures of poverty. Furthermore, chronic economic hardship may erode personal resources such as self-esteem which increases vulnerability to mental health issues. Trajectories of perceived family economic hardship and their relationship with common mental health disorders, as mediated by self-esteem, were investigated in 511 mother–child dyads from Singapore. Three distinct groups of economic hardship trajectories were delineated, namely the low stable, high stable and moderate decreasing group. The high stable group was found to be associated with a greater likelihood of mother’s depression, mother’s anxiety and child’s anxiety when compared to the low stable group. The moderate decreasing group was found to be associated with a greater likelihood of mother’s anxiety when compared to the low stable group. Mother’s self-esteem was found to mediate all the significant relations found. These findings indicate the existence of distinct trajectories of perceived economic hardship within low-income families and their relation with mental health outcomes in mothers and children. The mediation of these relations by mother’s self-esteem suggests the importance of enhancing self-esteem in mothers from low-income backgrounds.