Economic hardship was measured at both the 14- and 24-month waves using a 4-item index assessing whether there has been a time in the past 6 months (yes/no) when they and their family (a) were without telephone service; (b) did not pay the full amount of the rent or mortgage; (c) were evicted from their home or apartment for not paying the rent or mortgage; or (d) lost service from the gas, electric, or oil companies because payments were not made. These items were then summed to create an index of economic hardship (14-month wave: M = 0.49, SD = 0.75, range: 0–3; 24-month wave: M = 0.33, SD = 0.61, range: 0–3). (author abstract)