Abstract
The farm crisis of the 1980s was considered by many to be the most severe financial crisis for American agricultural producers since the Great Depression. Unmanageable debt loads are blamed for producing severe financial stress which, in turn, led to psychological distress among farm families. However, research suggests that some mediating factors may alleviate the effects of financial stress on distress. Previous research on the farm crisis has concentrated on the mediating effects of perceptual factors. Utilizing data from surveys of Texas farmers in 1986 and 1988, this analysis investigates the factors affecting the levels of financial stress and distress among Texas farm families, and the effects of economic mediators on the relationship between financial stress and distress. The theoretical model is founded upon the stress process model developed by Pearlin et al. (1981), and the model of economic vulnerability and depression developed by Belyea and Lobao (1990). Results from the present analysis using logistic regression analyses suggest that the number of years in farming, proportion of the household income from off-farm employment, proportion of farm ownership, proportion of the farm operation in crop production, and farm size are related to level of financial stress, and that levels of economic adjustments made in debt payments and expenditures, levels of financial stress, and proportion of the farm operation in crops are related to distress. Economic adjustments were found not to alleviate the effects of financial stress on distress. Findings suggest that theoretical models guiding future research on distress include social support, perceptual, and economic adjustment mediators.
Luedke, Alvin John (1993). Factors affecting levels of financial stress and distress among Texas farm families: the 1980s Farm Crisis. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1993 -THESIS -L948.