220659 Parental Debt Hardship and Socio-Emotional Well-being of Children and Youth

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Yumiko Aratani, PhD , Mailman School of Public Health, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, New York, NY
Michelle Chau , Mailman School of Public Health National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, New York, NY
Janice L. Cooper , Mailman School of Public Health, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, New York, NY
This paper aims to examine the impact of parental debt on children's socio-emotional well-being. Family debt has been increasing since early 1980s (Wagmiller 2003), and a study in U.K. shows that debt is highly associated with one's mental health (Jenkin et al. 2008). However the impact of parental debt on children's well-being is still understudied. In this study, we employ the Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2005-2007 with child development supplement data. Debt hardship is defined as the total family debt greater than or equal to 40 percent of total family income (Wagmiller 2003), and the total year of family debt experienced between 2005 and 2007. The sample includes families with children age 9-18 in 2007. Socio-emotional well-beings are measured by scales adapted from MacArthur MIDUS Youth and work by Corey Keyes measure subjective well-being among youth. The preliminary findings indicate that family debt hardship is negatively associated with social, psychological or emotional well-being of children and youth even after controlling for other socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. We also found that the negative effect of family debt hardship is more prevalent for African-American youth than White youth.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the process in which parental debt influences children’s socio-emotional well-being 2. Discuss the public health significance of the findings and develop a policy recommendation for providing prevention and early intervention mental health services for families with debt hardship. 3. Understand the importance of non-clinical strategies to support well-being of children and youth of low-income families.

Keywords: Adolescents, Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a trained sociologist with a background in asset and child mental health and methodological training in large data analysis.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.