TY - JOUR
T1 - Student loans and psychological distress
T2 - A cross-sectional study of young adults in Japan
AU - Sato, Yukihiro
AU - Watt, Richard G.
AU - Saijo, Yasuaki
AU - Yoshioka, Eiji
AU - Osaka, Ken
N1 - Funding Information:
Types of student financial support None Student loans (n = 1,826, 62.2%) (n = 994, 33.8%)
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Yukihiro Sato et al.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Background: Levels of student loan debt have been increasing, but very little research has assessed if this is associated with poor health. The aim was to examine the association between student loans and psychological distress in Japan. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based self-administered questionnaire survey in 2017. The sample comprised of 4,149 respondents aged 20–34, with 3,170 graduates and 979 current university students. The independent variables were whether or not current students had student loans, and for graduates, the total amount of their student loan debt. The dependent variable was severe psychological distress assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6; the cut-off point was 12/13). Covariates were demographic and parents’ socioeconomic variables. A Poisson regression analysis with a robust error variance was conducted to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Because there was a significant interaction between current student status and the status of borrowing student loans, stratified analyses were conducted. Results: The percentage of those with student loans was 33.8% among graduates and 35.2% among current university students. Among graduates, student loan debt was significantly associated with a high possibility of having severe psychological distress after adjusting for covariates (PR of ≥4 million yen, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.02–2.03). Among current university students, there was no significant association (PR of borrowing student loans, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.60–1.37). Conclusions: There was a significant association between student loan debt and psychological distress among graduates but not current university students.
AB - Background: Levels of student loan debt have been increasing, but very little research has assessed if this is associated with poor health. The aim was to examine the association between student loans and psychological distress in Japan. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based self-administered questionnaire survey in 2017. The sample comprised of 4,149 respondents aged 20–34, with 3,170 graduates and 979 current university students. The independent variables were whether or not current students had student loans, and for graduates, the total amount of their student loan debt. The dependent variable was severe psychological distress assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6; the cut-off point was 12/13). Covariates were demographic and parents’ socioeconomic variables. A Poisson regression analysis with a robust error variance was conducted to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Because there was a significant interaction between current student status and the status of borrowing student loans, stratified analyses were conducted. Results: The percentage of those with student loans was 33.8% among graduates and 35.2% among current university students. Among graduates, student loan debt was significantly associated with a high possibility of having severe psychological distress after adjusting for covariates (PR of ≥4 million yen, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.02–2.03). Among current university students, there was no significant association (PR of borrowing student loans, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.60–1.37). Conclusions: There was a significant association between student loan debt and psychological distress among graduates but not current university students.
KW - Mental health
KW - Student health
KW - Student loans
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U2 - 10.2188/jea.JE20190057
DO - 10.2188/jea.JE20190057
M3 - Article
C2 - 31474676
AN - SCOPUS:85083974308
VL - 30
SP - 436
EP - 441
JO - Journal of Epidemiology
JF - Journal of Epidemiology
SN - 0917-5040
IS - 10
ER -