Surviving poverty: stress and coping in the lives of housed and homeless mothers.

Stress, coping, and depressed mood were examined in a sample of 64 homeless mothers and a comparison group of 59 housed low-income mothers. Homeless mothers reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression, as well as greater use of avoidant and active-cognitive coping strategies, than did the housed mothers. Within-group analyses revealed an association between greater use of avoidant strategies and higher levels of reported depression for both groups. Implications for research and program development are discussed.