The Women Farmer Stress Inventory: Examining women farmer stress in the United States Corn Belt

Purpose

While women identifying as primary farmers have increased in the United States, there has not been research focused on the antecedents of stress and quality of life among women farmers in particular. This study set out to construct a Women Farmer Stress Inventory (WFSI), test its dimensionality, and assess its criterion-related validity by looking at its relationship with subjective wellbeing as measured by the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). We then examined sociodemographic and farm-level correlates to assess their relationship with stress.

Methods

We utilized responses from a random sample of 592 Iowan women farmers who responded to a mailout survey that included the WFSI. We conducted exploratory factor analysis to identify the factorial structure of the WFSI, and used linear regression to evaluate how sociodemographic and farm-level characteristics were related to each factor.

Results

The analysis revealed 5 unique factors that reflected different aspects of women farmer stress: time pressures and workload, environmental concern, external stressors from governments and market, interpersonal relationships, and rural amenities. All factors except rural amenities had high levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.80) and were validated using the external criteria of SWLS measures. Young age, being married, and engagement in off-farm work, and smaller farm size were associated with greater levels of stress across most domains.

Conclusion

The WFSI is a promising tool that shows high internal consistency and is validated with life satisfaction. Our study also finds certain sociodemographic and farm characteristics associated with different stress domains, which could inform both future research and community-based interventions.