Dataset Information

The Other Student Debt Crisis: How Borrowing to Pay for a Child's College Education Relates to Parents' Mental Health at Midlife.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

More parents are borrowing to help their children pay for college. These loans may be a source of financial stress and worry, which could influence parents' mental health. We determine whether child-related educational debt is associated with worse mental health among parents and if fathers are more sensitive to this debt than mothers, given potential gender differences in financial decision-making and relationships with adult children.

Method

Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, a nationally representative sample of persons born between 1957 and 1964. We used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the Short Form-12 Mental Health Component Score to assess mental health. We restricted our sample to parents who had at least one biological child attend college and who were interviewed at age 50, when mental health was assessed (n = 3,545).

Results

Among fathers, having any child-related educational debt versus none was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, but having greater amounts of child-related educational debt was associated with more depressive symptoms and worse mental health. No relationship was found for mothers.

Discussion

Our findings indicate that the student debt crisis may also have mental health implications for aging parents, particularly for fathers.

SUBMITTER: Walsemann KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7424281 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Problematic internet use (PIU) is associated with mental health concerns such as depression and affects more than 12% of young adults. Few studies have explored potential influences of parent-college student digital communication on college students' risk of PIU. OBJECTIVE:This study sought to understand the relationship between parent-college student digital communication frequency via phone calls, text messages, and Facebook contacts and PIU among college students. METHODS:Incoming first-year students were randomly selected from registrar lists of a midwestern and northwestern university for a 5-year longitudinal study. Data from interviews conducted in summer 2014 were used. Measures included participants' daily Facebook visits, communication frequency with parents via phone call and text message, and 3 variables related to Facebook connection status and communication: (1) parent-college student Facebook friendship status, (2) college student blocking personal Facebook content from parent, and (3) Facebook communication frequency. PIU risk was assessed using the Problematic and Risky Internet Use Screening Scale. Analysis included participants who reported visiting Facebook at least once per day. Multiple linear regression was used, followed by a post hoc mediation with Hayes process macro to further investigate predictive relationships among significant variables. RESULTS:A total of 151 participants reported daily Facebook use and were included in analyses. Among these participants, 59.6% (90/151) were female, 62.3% (94/151) were from the midwestern university, and 78.8% (119/151) were white. Mean Facebook visits per day was 4.3 (SD 3.34). There was a collective significant effect between participant daily Facebook visits, college student-parent phone calls, texts, and all 3 Facebook connection variables (F6,144=2.60, P=.02, R2=.10). Phone calls, text messages, and Facebook contacts were not associated with PIU risk. However, two individual items were significant predictors for PIU: participant daily Facebook visits were positively associated with increased PIU risk (b=0.04, P=.006) and being friends with a parent on Facebook was negatively associated with PIU risk (b=-0.66, P=.008). Participant daily Facebook visits were not a significant mediator of the relationship between college student-parent Facebook friendship and PIU risk (b=-0.04; 95% CI -0.11 to 0.04). CONCLUSIONS:This study did not find support for a relationship between parent-college student digital communication frequency and PIU among college students. Instead, results suggested Facebook friendship may be a protective factor. Future studies should examine how a parent-child Facebook friendship might protect against PIU among children at varying developmental stages.