The relationship between financial strain, perceived stress, psychological symptoms, and academic and social integration in undergraduate students

ABSTRACT

Objective: Financial strain may directly or indirectly (i.e., through perceived stress) impact students’ psychological symptoms and academic and social integration, yet few studies have tested these relationships. The authors explored the mediating effect of perceived stress on the relationship between financial strain and 2 important outcomes: psychological symptomology and academic and social integration. Participants: Participants were 157 undergraduate students. Data were collected from December 2013 to March 2014. Methods: Cross-sectional data collection conducted using online survey software. Results: It was found that perceived stress mediated the relationship between financial strain and (a) psychological symptomology and (b) academic and social integration. Both models included first-generation status as a covariate. Conclusions: Results suggest that perceived stress is an important intervention target for reducing psychological symptoms and improving academic and social integration for undergraduate students. Implications for university health centers and mental health professionals include incorporating a public health model to minimize stress risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic integration
• financial strain
• first-generation student
• low-income student
• mental health
• perceived stress
• social integration

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following experts who provided their time and input into this study: Dr Daniel Eisenberg and Sarah Ketchen Lipson of the Health Minds Network at The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. We would also like to thank Dr Andrew Hayes of the Department of Psychology at the Ohio State University who provided feedback on the statistical analyses conducted.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Roosevelt University.

Funding

We are especially grateful to Active Minds for providing author Danielle Rose Adams with an Emerging Scholars Fellowship to complete this work. Funding for Rinad Sary Beidas was provided by K23 MH099179.