ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2020
The Other Student Debt Crisis: How Borrowing to Pay for a Child's College Education Relates to Parents' Mental Health at Midlife.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining the Impact of Assistive Technology on Psychological Health, Family Education, and Curriculum Research in Japan: Insights from Artificial Intelligence.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Trial
- A systematic review examining the relationship between debt and the mental health outcomes of anxiety, depression and suicidality within the United States.SSM - population health · 2026Review
- Money and mental health: a scoping review of financial variables, data sources, and analytical methods.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Race/ethnic differences in educational gradients in sleep duration and quality among U.S. adults.SSM - population health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesMore 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.
methodData 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).
resultsAmong 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.
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Registered trials
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