Social Psychology Commons^™

Associations Between Financial Avoidance, Emotional Distress, And Relationship Conflict Frequency In Emerging Adults In College, Josh R. Novak, Rhees R. Johnson

Journal of Financial Therapy

Some research shows that college students are not aware of their financial situation and even avoid engaging with their finances. Research has yet to investigate how this financial avoidance is associated with emotional and relational health for college students in romantic relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to identify the associations between financial avoidance and conflict frequency. Emotional distress was included as a possible mediator of the association. Results revealed that for both men and women, higher financial avoidance was indirectly associated with increased conflict frequency with their partner through increased emotional distress. A direct association was …