Faculty of Arts and Sciences, The Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Department of Environmental Health, Sustainability and Health Initiative (SHINE), Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 02115, MA, United States.
Int J Public Health. 2019 May;64(4):573-584. doi: 10.1007/s00038-019-01214-3. Epub 2019 Feb 8.
This study evaluated decisions related to debt and savings on physical health, emotional health and health behaviours.
The longitudinal data from the Polish biennial household panel-Social Diagnosis Survey-were used. Evidence for a link between credit/savings and health/health behaviours was presented using three waves of the data and an outcome-wide regression analysis. To circumvent endogeneity, variables temporally prior to exposure were used as controls. Sensitivity analysis for unmeasured confounding, conducted using E-values, provided a check for robustness.
Debt proved a significant stressor, affecting three of five physical health measures. Over-indebted individuals suffered even more in terms of physical health outcomes. The role of savings in physical health was much less significant, yet had significant bearing on measures of emotional health. In terms of emotional health, debt (over-indebtedness in particular) influenced loneliness and increased suicidal thoughts. With respect to health behaviours, savings appeared significant in reducing smoking and increasing uptake of sport activities, while debt had no significant effect in these areas.
Recommendations are formulated to foster saving activity and develop institutional solutions for over-indebtedness.
本研究评估了与债务和储蓄相关的身体健康、心理健康和健康行为的决策。
使用波兰两年一次的家庭面板社会诊断调查的纵向数据。使用数据的三个波次和全结果回归分析，提出了信用/储蓄与健康/健康行为之间联系的证据。为了规避内生性，使用暴露前的时间变量作为对照。使用有效值进行未测量混杂的敏感性分析，为稳健性提供了检查。
债务被证明是一个重要的压力源，影响了五种身体健康指标中的三种。过度负债的人在身体健康方面的情况更糟。储蓄对身体健康的作用要小得多，但对心理健康指标有显著影响。就心理健康而言，债务（尤其是过度负债）会影响孤独感并增加自杀念头。在健康行为方面，储蓄似乎可以显著减少吸烟和增加体育活动的参与度，而债务在这些方面没有显著影响。
本研究提出了一些建议，以促进储蓄活动，并为过度负债制定制度解决方案。
