"Stop the World So I Can Get off for a While": Sources of Daily Stress in the Lives of Low-Income Single Mothers of Young Children

misbehavior. Stressful exchanges involving other adults were also frequently recorded, as were financial stressors. The diary records reveal substantial interand intraindividual variability in coping strategies and in the types of barriers that mothers faced in attempting to implement these strategies. Thus, the diaries provide a useful means of examining sources of perceived stress in the daily lives of these women.