Having student loans is associated with certain negative health outcomes among college students, particularly in terms of access to medical and dental care and medication use, according to research published in the Journal of American College Health. The findings highlight the potential impact of student debt on students’ well-being and the need for policies and interventions to address this issue.
The researchers, led by Arielle Kuperberg and her colleagues, sought to understand the relationship between student loan debt and the physical and mental health of college students. They wanted to investigate whether having student loans affects a student’s self-rated physical and mental health, medical problems and mental health conditions, and their use of healthcare services.
The researchers also aimed to determine if these differences in health outcomes persisted even after accounting for other factors like age, race, gender, parents’ education, marital status, and region.
“This study is part of a larger project on student loans and inequalities among the college educated,” explained Kuperberg, an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and chair of the Council on Contemporary Families. “As a member of the ‘millennial generation’ I originally became interested in the topic of how student loans affect young adults because many of my friends, family, and students/former students faced struggles related to student loan debt.”
“I became interested in how student loans were related to health, mental health, and health care use, after some of my friends faced mental health struggles that seemed to be related to their despair over their large amount of student debt. I also have had some friends and family who have delayed medical care, or used less medication than they were supposed to, because of financial difficulties, sometimes with dire consequences, which inspired that part of the study.”
To conduct the study, the researchers sent a survey to undergraduate students at two regional public research universities in the United States. The survey asked students about their student loan status, physical and mental health, medical problems, medication use, and healthcare visits. The researchers also collected information about students’ background and demographic characteristics.
The universities chosen were racially diverse, and one of them was designated as a minority-serving institution. The survey was sent in March 2017. In total, 3,248 students completed the survey and provided relevant data for analysis.
Kuperberg and her colleagues found that students with loans reported worse physical, more major medical issues, and delayed healthcare visits compared to those without loans. They were also more likely to reduce medication use to save money.
The impact of student loans on health and healthcare experiences remained significant even after accounting for factors like race, gender, age, and parents’ education.
“Student loans are related to several inequalities among college students, even before students leave college and begin making payments on their loans,” Kuperberg told PsyPost.
Contrary to previous studies, having student loans was not associated with being diagnosed or treated for a mental health condition in college. However, students with loans still reported worse self-rated mental health. In addition, students with loans reported higher rates of delaying mental health visits.
The findings highlight the importance of understanding the relationship between student debt and well-being. But the researchers noted that they couldn’t determine if the results were directly caused by the student loans themselves or if there were other underlying factors at play.
“One major caveat is we are capturing students when they are young and in college – some of these effects may be a result of childhood inequalities, and may change after they graduate, when they are on more equal footing with other college graduates without loans,” Kuperberg explained. “One question that still needs to be addressed is: Do these differences persist and result in later differences after graduation?”
The researchers recommend policies that address the fundamental relationship between debt, health, and healthcare before repayment begins. This could include reducing tuition costs to help students avoid taking on excessive debt. They also suggest that increasing public funding for higher education and implementing policies to mitigate health disparities among students with loans could have positive effects on health and healthcare use.
The study, “Student loans, physical and mental health, and health care use and delay in college“, was authored by Arielle Kuperberg, Kenneshia Williams, and Joan Maya Mazelis.
