1996) suggests that, at least for African-American mothers, high quality social support networks may provide them with the power to better meet these needs in their children.
In their study, Graham-Bermann et. al (1996) tested an ecological model of the impact of social relationships, income, stress, and maternal mental health on child adjustment. Subjects were 121 African-American children (aged 7 12 years) and their mothers either living in a homeless shelter or low-income housing.
Subjects were interviewed and were required to complete measures of social support (the Networks of Relationships Inventories), child outcome (the Child Behavior Checklist), and social adjustment (the Perceived Competence Scales for Children). Maternal stress was assessed with the African American Women's Stress Scale.
The results of the study revealed that for the homeless group, a lack of social support and maternal depression were significantly associated with adjustment difficulties children; h
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