Stress and Health in Women Leaving Welfare

1996年，福利改革立法要求全国让450多万单身母亲就业。大多数妇女离开福利机构去工作，即使她们可能从事全职工作，也将继续生活在联邦贫困线或以下，而且必须克服与维持就业和确保适当的儿童保育有关的额外挑战。研究表明，离开福利工作可能是单身母亲的一个重大压力来源。接受福利的妇女经历抑郁、焦虑和健康状况不佳的比率几乎是一般人口中妇女的两倍。尽管如此，还没有研究确定在这一过渡期间的压力在多大程度上进一步威胁到已经脆弱的单身母亲群体的健康。我们的目标是改善低收入妇女的健康。这项建议的目的是比较40名单身母亲在离开福利机构就业之前和之后的心理社会痛苦、神经内分泌和心血管压力指标以及健康状况。这些数据是必要的，以确定妇女在从福利转向就业时是否会增加健康风险，指导为这一人群制定护理干预措施，并为负责制定公共政策的决策者提供信息。本研究的具体目的如下：1.比较单身母亲在离开福利机构前（时间1）和就业后2个月（时间2）的a）心理压力，B）神经内分泌和心血管压力指标，以及c）单身母亲的健康状况。2.确定心理社会压力的变化预测a）压力的神经内分泌和心血管指标和B）从时间1到时间2的健康状态变化的程度。

In 1996, welfare reform legislation required the nation move over 4.5 million single-mothers into employment. The majority of women leaving welfare for work will continue to live at or below the federal poverty level even through they may work full-time and must overcome additional challenges associated with maintaining employment and securing adequate childcare. Studies indicate leaving welfare for work may be a source of significant stress for single-mothers. Women who receive welfare experience depression, anxiety, and poor health status at nearly twice the rate of women in the general population. Despite this, studies determining the extent to which stress during this transition further threatens the health of an already vulnerable population of single- mothers are absent. Our lung range goal is to improve the health of low- income women. The objective of this proposal is to compare psychosocial distress, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular indicators of stress, and health status in 40 single-mothers before and after they leave welfare for employment., These data are necessary to determine whether women incur increased risk to their health when moving from welfare into employment, guide the development of nursing interventions for this population, and inform decision-makers responsible for public policy development. The specific aims of this research are as follows: 1. To compare a) psychological stress, b) neuroendocrine and cardiovascular indicators of stress, and c) health status in single-mothers both status in single-mothers before leaving welfare (Time 1) and 2 months after become employed (Time 2). 2. To determine the extent to which a change in psychosocial stress predicts a change in a) neuroendocrine and cardiovascular indicators of stress and b) health status from Time 1 to Time 2].