Impact of Economic Hardship and Financial Threat on Suicide Ideation and Confusion

ABSTRACT

The present study tested the extent to which perceived economic hardship is associated with psychological distress (suicide ideation and confusion) after controlling for personal characteristics. It also explored whether perceived financial threat (i.e., fearful anxious-uncertainty about the stability and security of one's personal financial situation) mediates the relationship between economic hardship and psychological distress outcomes. The theoretical model was tested in a sample of Canadian students (n = 211) and was validated in a community sample of employed Portuguese adults (n = 161). In both samples, the fit of the model was good. Parameter estimates indicated that greater experience of economic hardship increased with financial threat, which in turn increased with levels of suicide ideation and confusion. We discuss the practical implications of these results, such as for programs aimed at alleviating the burden of financial hardship, in our concluding remarks.

KEYWORDS:

• Economic hardship
• financial threat
• Great Recession
• psychological distress
• suicide

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the Faculty of Health at York University and the Greenglass Lab, including Joana Katter, Melina Condren, Dean Hodge, Constance Mara, Karina Meysel, Lisa Santorelli, and Jessica Campoli for their contributions to this research.

Author Notes

Lisa Fiksenbaum is a part-time Lecturer of Psychology at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, and York University. Her area of research includes stress, coping, burnout, and work-family conflict.

Zdravko Marjanovic is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Concordia University of Edmonton. He studies various topics that span across personality, social, and health psychology.

Esther Greenglass is a Professor of Psychology at York University. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA), American Psychological Association (APA), and International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP), and is widely cited for her work on stress and coping.

Francisco Garcia-Santos is a member of NECO - Center for Behavioral Economics Lisboa. His research interests include attitudes to liquidity, money and assets traded in financial markets.