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Author: Gentile, Danielle
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Walsemann, Katrina Michelle
Gee, Gilbert C.
Gentile, Danielle
Sick of Our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Health of U.S. Young Adults
Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): College Education; Debt/Borrowing; Financial Assistance; Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Student Loans / Student Aid; Wealth

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We investigated how college loans are related to health during early adulthood, whether this relationship is stronger among those with less parental wealth or without a college degree, and if this relationship varied by type of college attended (e.g. 2-year versus 4-year). We analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a nationally representative sample of young adults, restricting our sample to persons who ever attended college (n=4,643). Multivariate regression tested the association between college loans and self-rated health and psychological functioning in 2010, adjusting for a robust set of socio-demographic indicators. Student loans were associated with poorer self-rated health and psychological functioning. This association varied by level of parental wealth, but not degree attainment or type of college attended. Our study raises provocative questions for further research regarding student loan debt and the possible spillover effects on other life circumstances, such as occupational trajectories and health inequities.
Bibliography Citation
Walsemann, Katrina Michelle, Gilbert C. Gee and Danielle Gentile. "Sick of Our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Health of U.S. Young Adults." Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014.
2. Walsemann, Katrina Michelle
Gee, Gilbert C.
Gentile, Danielle
Sick of Our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Mental Health of Young Adults in the United States
Social Science and Medicine 124 (January 2015): 85-93.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614007503
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): College Enrollment; Debt/Borrowing; Educational Attainment; Financial Assistance; Health, Mental/Psychological; Human Capital; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Student Loans / Student Aid

Student loans are increasingly important and commonplace, especially among recent cohorts of young adults in the United States. These loans facilitate the acquisition of human capital in the form of education, but may also lead to stress and worries related to repayment. This study investigated two questions: 1) what is the association between the cumulative amount of student loans borrowed over the course of schooling and psychological functioning when individuals are 25-31 years old; and 2) what is the association between annual student loan borrowing and psychological functioning among currently enrolled college students? We also examined whether these relationships varied by parental wealth, college enrollment history (e.g. 2-year versus 4-year college), and educational attainment (for cumulative student loans only). We analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), a nationally representative sample of young adults in the United States. Analyses employed multivariate linear regression and within-person fixed-effects models. Student loans were associated with poorer psychological functioning, adjusting for covariates, in both the multivariate linear regression and the within-person fixed effects models. This association varied by level of parental wealth in the multivariate linear regression models only, and did not vary by college enrollment history or educational attainment. The present findings raise novel questions for further research regarding student loan debt and the possible spillover effects on other life circumstances, such as occupational trajectories and health inequities. The study of student loans is even more timely and significant given the ongoing rise in the costs of higher education.
Bibliography Citation
Walsemann, Katrina Michelle, Gilbert C. Gee and Danielle Gentile. "Sick of Our Loans: Student Borrowing and the Mental Health of Young Adults in the United States." Social Science and Medicine 124 (January 2015): 85-93.