Laikyn Arndt
Research Mentor: Olivia Chang
Mentor Department: Department of Psychology, LSA
Author(s): Laikyn Arndt, Olivia Chang
Session: Session 7 (4:00 PM – 4:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 119
Abstract
Economic instability is a constant stressor for many families and has important implications for parents’ well-being both on an individual level and as a caregiver. This project aims to investigate how financial uncertainty shapes the psychological experiences of parents, their parenting behaviors, and how these are reflected through everyday language usage. More specifically, this research aims to examine whether patterns of parental speech, specifically the use of distancing language, serves as an indicator of how caregivers tend to cope with economic stress and create meaning of their financial situation. Using both qualitative and mixed methods approaches, this study involves personal, in-depth interviews with low-income caregivers to explore financial experiences, emotional responses, and daily language usage. Interview data will be transcribed, coded, and analyzed to identify common patterns and linguistic markers associated with coping, stress regulation, and caregiving processes. By creating a structure with natural language analysis, this project aims to expand the understanding of how socioeconomic conditions influence family processes on a psychological level and behaviorally. Findings have the potential to expand knowledge and inform research on family stress, method approaches using everyday language as data, and support more context sensitive perspectives on parenting under economic hardships.
