Explaining the negative impact of financial concern on undergraduates’ academic outcomes: evidence for stress and belonging as mediators

ABSTRACT

Poorer financial circumstances among undergraduate students predict worse academic outcomes, yet there is a lack of research examining mediators. Accordingly, the present research aimed to identify such mediating variables. In Study 1, cross-sectional data were collected from UK undergraduates (N = 516). Controlling for background variables, path analysis indicated that stress, sense of belonging at university, working memory, and self-control mediated the negative relationship between financial concern and academic performance. In Study 2 an independent sample (N = 2794) was used to successfully validate the respecified model developed in Study 1. Additionally, longitudinal data were collected from UK undergraduates (N = 453) at three time points in an academic year. Controlling for background variables, financial concern predicted subsequent changes in intrinsic academic motivation, as mediated by changes in stress and sense of belonging at university. Together, this provides consistent evidence for stress and belonging as mediators of the impact of finances on academic outcomes. Our findings afford a more complete understanding of how financial concern may affect students’ experience at university, highlight potential negative consequences of funding systems that place a financial burden on students, and could serve to inform interventions aimed at mitigating the negative effects of financial concern.

KEYWORDS:

• Financial concern
• academic outcomes
• stress
• belonging
• university

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Matthew Reid

Matthew Reid was awarded a PhD for his thesis entitled ‘Understanding the Consequences of Undergraduate Financial Concern and its Implications for Academic Outcomes’

Donna C. Jessop

Donna C. Jessop is a Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology. Her main areas of research interest include: factors that moderate the effectiveness of health promotion campaigns, emotional responses to illness, and socio-economic inequalities in health, especially investigating the role that student debt and financial concern have on academic performance and mental and physical health.

Eleanor Miles

Eleanor Miles is a social and cognitive psychologist whose main research interest is self regulation, particularly the role of emotions in self-regulation.