Age, Financial Dependence, and Social Support as they relate to College Mental Health

Discussion

There was a significant interaction between financial dependence, social support, and age, as they relate loneliness which partially supported the research hypothesis, however, there was no interaction between financial dependence, social support and age when examining depression, trait anxiety and, state anxiety. Of the twelve possible 2-way interactions only the interaction of social support and age as they relate to loneliness was significant. The main effect of financial support was only significant when related to loneliness. Age was significantly related to loneliness, trait anxiety and, state anxiety. Social support was significantly related to all four dependent variables loneliness, depression, trait anxiety, and state anxiety all with the same pattern such that greater social support is related to lower mental health scores (lower mental health scores in this study represent better/more desirable mental health.

There has not been a study done that examines the interaction between financial dependence, social support and, age as they relate to different aspects of mental health. However, there has been extensive research done on the influence of social support on mental health. This study found that those that were classified as having high social support had the lowest levels of loneliness, depression, trait anxiety and states anxiety such that greater social support was related to better mental health. These finding are consistent with previous literature (Hefner & Eisenberg, 2009; Siedlecki et al., 2014; Stice, Ragan, & Randall, 2004; Zimet et al., 1988).

Trait anxiety and state anxiety each had the same pattern of results such that the only significant effects were the main effects of age and social support. The strong correlation between trait and state anxiety is not surprising given similarity between the two in comparison to the other dependent variables loneliness and depression.

Limitations to this study include the fact that the age range for the sample is 18 to 62, and there are no participants with the ages 21-28, a span of 7 years that was not represented by this study. If the sample did include participants with the age range of 21-28 the arbitrary cut off for of age used in this study would change and possibly alter the results. For the purpose of this study those who were 20 years old and below were considered “younger” and, those that were 20 and over were considered “older.” The classifications could have been more accurately labeled those of traditional college age (18-22) and non-traditional college age (22 and up). However, the same problem still exist that there are no participants that are 21-22 for the traditional college age participant category, and 23-28 for the non-traditional college age participant category. The whole age range of the sample was included because every participant in the analysis was a college student, either at a traditional four-year university or a community college.

In regards to the significant 3-way interaction age, financial dependence, and social support as they relate to loneliness I suspect that for those that had high social support it did not make a difference whether they were younger or older, or financially dependent or not financially dependent. The difference between those that are and are not financially dependent is when comparing age for those that had medium social support such that those who were financially dependent and older had greater loneliness than those that were younger, but those that were not financially dependent had no significant difference in loneliness. I think a reason why this pattern may be present is that those who are older (28 and older in this sample) and financially dependent on their family may have or have had other struggles in their lives making them more susceptible to loneliness. But, those that are not financially dependent are better able to meet their own needs and responsibilities (financial, social, occupationally, romantically), without the assistance of family. For those with low social support, those that were older had significantly greater loneliness than those that were younger, for both financially and not financially dependent participants. Unexpectedly, the effect was larger for those that were not financially than those that were financially dependent (r=0.615 and r=0.342 respectively). For those with low social support those that were younger and not financially dependent had significantly lower loneliness than those that were younger and financially dependent (M=33.200 and M=43.971 respectively), and there was no significant difference between those that were older (M=47.268 and M=50.529 respectively). Making the effect between those who were young and old, low social support and not financially dependent larger than between those who were young and old, low social support and were financially dependent.

Although there was no significant interaction between age, financial dependence, and social support as they related to depression there were three pairwise comparisons between those who are younger and older that had effect sizes that indicate there may be a significant difference those with low social support (r=0.162) such that those who are younger having greater depression, and those with medium social support (r=0.158) such that those that are younger having greater depression for those were not financially dependent. For those that had high social support and were financially dependent (r=0.275) with those who are younger having greater depression. In these comparisons power is lacking (20%, 20%, and 30% respectively). For the first two comparisons 310 participants in each category would be required for 8-% power. For the third comparison only 82 participants per condition would be needed have 80% power.

Much of psychological research focuses on topics such as age, social support, loneliness, depression, trait anxiety, and state anxiety but, not very much research has been done examining how financial dependence relates to variables psychologists are interested in. The existing literature regarding financial dependence can be found in journals that focus on economics and finance (i.e. Journal of Finance, and, Review of International Economics). Financial dependence only had a significant effect on one of the four dependent variables. Financial dependence, as it related to loneliness, was significant in the 3-way interaction and the main effect of financial dependence. Financial dependence on family is a unique variable in the sense that it is rarely if ever collected. Primarily factors related to investing and spending habits are measured in certain populations, and how money is earned by certain people; however the role of the family in financially supporting people is not considered.

Future research should focus more on the variable of financial dependence. What does financial dependence bring to the table that social support and age do not? Are there other differences between students who are financially depended compared to students who are not financially dependent? The data that was used in this study was gathered from both traditional four-year universities and community colleges. I recommend the same analysis be conducted examining age, social support and financial dependence as they relate to loneliness, depression, trait anxiety, and state anxiety while controlling for the type of school. This can be accomplished by collecting data only from students from traditional four-year universities and analyzing the data, and collecting data only from students from community colleges and analyzing the data. Further knowledge can be gained by expanding the scales used to measure mental health such as quality of life scale, mental health inventory, and depression-happiness scale to better cover the spectrum that is mental health.

Abstract Introduction Methods Loneliness Results Depression Results Trait Anxiety Results State Anxiety Results Discussion          References Tables