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New study reveals sharp link between student loans and depressive symptoms in college students, young adults
The logic behind student loans is simple: Take out a loan, go to school, graduate and get a job to pay back the debt. Simple. But what if the very act of taking out a student loan actually hurt one’s ability to repay it?
In a recent study at the University of South Carolina in conjunction with the University of California Los Angeles, researchers found a significant relationship between students with debt and depression. According to the study, students with debt are more likely to experience depressive symptoms. While this may seem common sense, the study provides groundbreaking insight into the student loan crisis: The stress felt after taking out student loans may be so overwhelming, that it prevents borrowers from ever paying back their student debt.
“The costs of education are rising, and many industries are still in recovery from the last economic downturn. In addition, research has revealed a larger percentage of young adults possess B.A. degrees, which has led more students to pursue graduate training to get a leg-up over their peers,” Dr. Eric D. Nelson, a licensed physiologist at Pepperdine University, said.
“In general, when demands (debt) outweigh resources (income), this can be threatening, which can likely contribute to increased depression, in my opinion.”
In the past three decades, four-year college tuition rates rose 250 percent, accounting for inflation. With that, the ability to afford college for many students depends on student loans. Seven in ten seniors report graduating with debt, and the average student loan price tag is upwards of $28,400 per borrower. But higher education isn’t a frivolous expense; it’s an investment. Right?
It’s simple: Too much student debt and too little income create tension and anxiety, which can lead to depressive symptoms and stress. This stress can translate to an inability to perform well academically or professionally, and make it more difficult to find financial success to pay back loans.
“Depression can lead to hopelessness, and a student might simply give up on paying back loans, not realizing that there are programs out there specifically designed to assist them. Instead, they may accidently default on their loans, which only worsens their financial situation and increases the depression,” Nelson added.
As a psychologist at Pepperdine University’s counseling center, Nelson understands the pressures students face. In regards to the subsequent depression associated with student loans, Nelson speculated that this lower level of emotional functioning could inhibit a student’s ability to perform in school, and thus also hurt that student’s chance of securing a job or performing well thereafter.
“Some of the symptoms of depression include poor concentration, difficulty sleeping, lack of motivation, and decreased energy, all of which can have a major impact on ability to work effectively both academically and vocationally,” Nelson said of depressions’ impact on a student’s ability to perform in school as well as in a career.
Just the facts (from the study), mam
“We expected to find a link between student loans and mental health because prior research had found that financial strain and other forms of debt are also linked to mental health,” Dr. Katrina Walsemann, Phd, MPH, the study’s lead researcher and a professor at the university of South Carolina, wrote via email.
Published in November 2014, the study, “Sick of our loans: Student borrowing and the mental health of young adults in the United States,” concluded that several factors played into student loan related depression, such as parental wealth and the type of higher education institution (i.e. a 4-year school, a 2-year school, or a combination of the two for transfer students). The study noted that while there is extensive research about the effects of debt on psychological well being, there hasn’t been any prior research on the effects of student loans on mental health.
“Our data indicate that student loans are associated with poorer psychological functioning,” Walsemann, Dr. Gilbert Gee and Dr. Danielle Gentile, the co-authors of the study, wrote in their journal findings. “This association is seen both for the cumulative amount of student loans borrowed across the course of schooling, as well as for the yearly amount of student loans borrowed while in college.”
In regards to parental wealth predicting mental health for students with loans, the study found a surprising result: Students with wealthier families feel more anxiety and depression about their debt.
“Our findings suggest that parental wealth moderates the association between student loans and mental health. Among wealthier families, we found that the cumulative amount of student loans borrowed was associated with poorer psychological functioning, as expected,” Walsemann, Gee and Gentile concluded. “The reverse association was found among less wealthy families, such that increasing student loans were related to better psychological functioning.”
As an explanation for these results, Walsemann, Gee and Gentile concluded that students without the benefit of wealthier family backings might be in a better mental state about their loan status, as they may have already overcome great obstacles just to enroll in college. Thus, students from more financially comfortable situations may feel more anxiety and apprehension about their loans as they lack the ‘chip on their shoulder’ that might sculpt more positive outlook.
Although this study provides meaningful insight into just how perplexing an issue student debt and the subsequent depression it’s associated with is, there’s still further research to be done on the topic.
“This study provides preliminary evidence that student loans are associated with poorer psychological functioning while enrolled in school as well as in early adulthood,” the researchers wrote in their findings.
WATCH: One Trillion Dollars, Student Debt and Higher Education: Greg Gottesman at TEDxSeattle
Student Insight
Student loans and the subsequent depression they incur are burdensome issues, and this enigma may actually prevent students from getting a job post-graduation, or from paying back their debts altogether. So then the dilemma is this: If taking out student loans creates such a perplex dilemma, why do it?
“I was young, stupid, seventeen,” Nicole Adlman, a 24-year-old writer living in Los Angeles, said of her decision to take out student loans. “I had two full tuition scholarships to Penn State and Northeastern, but was drawn to the sunshine, warmth and what I thought would be genuine happiness at the [University of Miami]. It turned, instead, to be a life-ending decision—the life where I could live without $700-a-month to pay in debt for 20 to 30 years after school was gone.“
Like so many college students now in the real world, Adlman expressed that she wished someone had been there to help her understand the consequences of her decision. That, yes, taking out student loans to finance an education is a noble thing, but the pressure to pay back loans in one’s early 20’s, even 30’s, is immense.
While some may not be presented with the options Adlman had, and thus must take out student loans if they wish to receive an education, Dr. Nelson argues that there are still steps one can take to manage student debt and the stress that accompanies it.
“One of the best ways to manage the stress is to become educated about the process of paying off student loans. The government knows this is a major issue, and has many programs in place to assist students with large debts (e.g., Income Based Repayment). Many of these programs help students that are having difficulty landing a job or those that have zero income,” Nelson said, providing a preliminary solution for students to manage their student loans post-graduation. “To manage stress, stay active with friends and recreation, practice relaxation strategies (e.g., deep breathing, meditation), manage anxious thoughts, and exercise/eat well.”
Still, for many students like Adlman, the stress about student loan repayment is overwhelming not only post-graduation, but during college.
“I did [feel stressed about my loans] when I realized I didn’t like Miami. When I realized I had sold my soul—gotten into irrevocable debt—for palm trees and a subpar education,” Adlman said.
LISTEN: DEPRESSION ON THE RISE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS (NPR)
The issue remains
While a link between student loans and depression may be surprising, the fact that this depression may keep students—like Adlman—from ever paying back their loans is both shocking and sobering. A slippery slope of student debt threatens to create a new economic crisis that America’s youth cannot overcome, and may eventually reshape the composition of college-eligible candidates.
The logic behind student loans is simple: Take out a loan, go to school, graduate and get a job to pay back the debt. Simple. But what if the very act of taking out a student loan actually hurt one’s ability to repay it?
In a recent study at the University of South Carolina in conjunction with the University of California Los Angeles, researchers found a significant relationship between students with debt and depression. According to the study, students with debt are more likely to experience depressive symptoms. While this may seem common sense, the study provides groundbreaking insight into the student loan crisis: The stress felt after taking out student loans may be so overwhelming, that it prevents borrowers from ever paying back their student debt.
“The costs of education are rising, and many industries are still in recovery from the last economic downturn. In addition, research has revealed a larger percentage of young adults possess B.A. degrees, which has led more students to pursue graduate training to get a leg-up over their peers,” Dr. Eric D. Nelson, a licensed physiologist at Pepperdine University, said.
“In general, when demands (debt) outweigh resources (income), this can be threatening, which can likely contribute to increased depression, in my opinion.”
In the past three decades, four-year college tuition rates rose 250 percent, accounting for inflation. With that, the ability to afford college for many students depends on student loans. Seven in ten seniors report graduating with debt, and the average student loan price tag is upwards of $28,400 per borrower. But higher education isn’t a frivolous expense; it’s an investment. Right?
It’s simple: Too much student debt and too little income create tension and anxiety, which can lead to depressive symptoms and stress. This stress can translate to an inability to perform well academically or professionally, and make it more difficult to find financial success to pay back loans.
“Depression can lead to hopelessness, and a student might simply give up on paying back loans, not realizing that there are programs out there specifically designed to assist them. Instead, they may accidently default on their loans, which only worsens their financial situation and increases the depression,” Nelson added.
As a psychologist at Pepperdine University’s counseling center, Nelson understands the pressures students face. In regards to the subsequent depression associated with student loans, Nelson speculated that this lower level of emotional functioning could inhibit a student’s ability to perform in school, and thus also hurt that student’s chance of securing a job or performing well thereafter.
“Some of the symptoms of depression include poor concentration, difficulty sleeping, lack of motivation, and decreased energy, all of which can have a major impact on ability to work effectively both academically and vocationally,” Nelson said of depressions’ impact on a student’s ability to perform in school as well as in a career.
Just the facts (from the study), mam
“We expected to find a link between student loans and mental health because prior research had found that financial strain and other forms of debt are also linked to mental health,” Dr. Katrina Walsemann, Phd, MPH, the study’s lead researcher and a professor at the university of South Carolina, wrote via email.
Published in November 2014, the study, “Sick of our loans: Student borrowing and the mental health of young adults in the United States,” concluded that several factors played into student loan related depression, such as parental wealth and the type of higher education institution (i.e. a 4-year school, a 2-year school, or a combination of the two for transfer students). The study noted that while there is extensive research about the effects of debt on psychological well being, there hasn’t been any prior research on the effects of student loans on mental health.
“Our data indicate that student loans are associated with poorer psychological functioning,” Walsemann, Dr. Gilbert Gee and Dr. Danielle Gentile, the co-authors of the study, wrote in their journal findings. “This association is seen both for the cumulative amount of student loans borrowed across the course of schooling, as well as for the yearly amount of student loans borrowed while in college.”
In regards to parental wealth predicting mental health for students with loans, the study found a surprising result: Students with wealthier families feel more anxiety and depression about their debt.
“Our findings suggest that parental wealth moderates the association between student loans and mental health. Among wealthier families, we found that the cumulative amount of student loans borrowed was associated with poorer psychological functioning, as expected,” Walsemann, Gee and Gentile concluded. “The reverse association was found among less wealthy families, such that increasing student loans were related to better psychological functioning.”
As an explanation for these results, Walsemann, Gee and Gentile concluded that students without the benefit of wealthier family backings might be in a better mental state about their loan status, as they may have already overcome great obstacles just to enroll in college. Thus, students from more financially comfortable situations may feel more anxiety and apprehension about their loans as they lack the ‘chip on their shoulder’ that might sculpt more positive outlook.
Although this study provides meaningful insight into just how perplexing an issue student debt and the subsequent depression it’s associated with is, there’s still further research to be done on the topic.
“This study provides preliminary evidence that student loans are associated with poorer psychological functioning while enrolled in school as well as in early adulthood,” the researchers wrote in their findings.
WATCH: One Trillion Dollars, Student Debt and Higher Education: Greg Gottesman at TEDxSeattle
Student Insight
Student loans and the subsequent depression they incur are burdensome issues, and this enigma may actually prevent students from getting a job post-graduation, or from paying back their debts altogether. So then the dilemma is this: If taking out student loans creates such a perplex dilemma, why do it?
“I was young, stupid, seventeen,” Nicole Adlman, a 24-year-old writer living in Los Angeles, said of her decision to take out student loans. “I had two full tuition scholarships to Penn State and Northeastern, but was drawn to the sunshine, warmth and what I thought would be genuine happiness at the [University of Miami]. It turned, instead, to be a life-ending decision—the life where I could live without $700-a-month to pay in debt for 20 to 30 years after school was gone.“
Like so many college students now in the real world, Adlman expressed that she wished someone had been there to help her understand the consequences of her decision. That, yes, taking out student loans to finance an education is a noble thing, but the pressure to pay back loans in one’s early 20’s, even 30’s, is immense.
While some may not be presented with the options Adlman had, and thus must take out student loans if they wish to receive an education, Dr. Nelson argues that there are still steps one can take to manage student debt and the stress that accompanies it.
“One of the best ways to manage the stress is to become educated about the process of paying off student loans. The government knows this is a major issue, and has many programs in place to assist students with large debts (e.g., Income Based Repayment). Many of these programs help students that are having difficulty landing a job or those that have zero income,” Nelson said, providing a preliminary solution for students to manage their student loans post-graduation. “To manage stress, stay active with friends and recreation, practice relaxation strategies (e.g., deep breathing, meditation), manage anxious thoughts, and exercise/eat well.”
Still, for many students like Adlman, the stress about student loan repayment is overwhelming not only post-graduation, but during college.
“I did [feel stressed about my loans] when I realized I didn’t like Miami. When I realized I had sold my soul—gotten into irrevocable debt—for palm trees and a subpar education,” Adlman said.
LISTEN: DEPRESSION ON THE RISE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS (NPR)
The issue remains
While a link between student loans and depression may be surprising, the fact that this depression may keep students—like Adlman—from ever paying back their loans is both shocking and sobering. A slippery slope of student debt threatens to create a new economic crisis that America’s youth cannot overcome, and may eventually reshape the composition of college-eligible candidates.