Coping and social support as moderators: Relationship between financial threat and negative psychological outcomes

Between 2011 and 2014 Portugal faced an economic crisis. During a crisis, individuals develop threat perceptions regarding their financial situation. When individuals perceive that their financial situation worsens, negative psychological outcomes emerge. The present study assessed the relationship between financial threat and three negative psychological outcomes (stress, anxiety, and depression), and tested the moderating role of proactive coping and social support, individually and combined, on this relationship. The moderating role of sociodemographic variables (age, gender, marital status, and professional situation) was also considered. A sample of 729 participants, 33.9% males and 66.1% females, was collected online between March-June 2013. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the obtained data. Financial threat was positively and significantly associated with stress, anxiety, and depression. Proactive coping moderated the relationship between financial threat and depression. Social support, individually and combined with proactive coping, did not moderate the relationship between financial threat and any of the negative psychological outcomes. Age moderated the relationship between financial threat and stress. The main implications of this study are presented, as well as its limitations and suggestions for future works.