Gender,Financial Strain,and Psychological Distress among Older Adults

This study assessed the degree to which differential exposure and differential vulnerability to chronic financial strain contribute to greater distress among older women than older men. Previous research on this topic used the demographic mean decomposition technique, a procedure that does not assess factors that might account for differential exposure and differential vulnerability. This issue is addressed by (a) evaluating the effects of marital status, a factor that might be responsible for differential exposure and (b) evaluating the effects of control, a coping resource that might account for differential vulnerability. Using data from a nationwide survey, the results indicate that gender differences in control and distress emerged in response to differential exposure. Older women were exposed to more financial stress than older men, and their greater exposure resulted, in part, from their lower probability of being married. Older women's greater exposure to financial strain overwhelmed their ability to maintain a sense of control, which, in turn, resulted in greater distress. The findings suggest that if older men and women were equally likely to experience financial strain, there would be no significant gender differences in control orientation or distress.