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of these consequences. Regardless of whether one's financial problems are
shared by a region (e.g., due to an economic downturn) or are individual (e.g.,
due to one's own financial mismanagement), in many respects financial stress is
still an individual issue. Irrespective of how common financial stress is in a
community, people still withdraw from social activities, get depressed, blame
themselves, and argue more with their family members (Jahoda, 1979).
Most of the research in the psychological literature is based on American and
European samples. We found no published research drawing from Canadian
samples. Although bankruptcies are three times more common in the United
States than they are in Canada, it is unclear whether the impact of financial
stress is any different in Canada. Research is necessary to determine whether
the Canadian social safety net softens the impact of financial stress.
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