Simonse Olaf, Van Dijk Wilco W, Van Dillen Lotte F, Van Dijk Eric
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
Knowledge Center Psychology and Economic Behavior, Leiden, Netherlands.
Npj Ment Health Res. 2022;1(1):15. doi: 10.1038/s44184-022-00016-5. Epub 2022 Oct 14.
Using longitudinal data before and during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic for a representative sample of Dutch households, we examined the role of financial stress, defined as the subjective experience of lacking financial resources to cope with demands, in mental health changes. Also, we examined financial stress and mental health relations with households' income, savings, and debts. The data revealed that average mental health did not change during the first six months of the pandemic but showed considerable underlying heterogeneity. Results showed that financial stress changes significantly explained this heterogeneity. Increases in financial stress predicted decreases in mental health, whereas decreases in financial stress predicted increases in mental health. While income did not explain financial stress changes, fewer savings and more debts were related to increased financial stress, which was, in turn, negatively related to mental health. We discuss the implications of our findings for mental health care and financial security policy and provide suggestions for future research.
我们利用新冠疫情大流行前及头六个月期间荷兰代表性家庭样本的纵向数据，研究了经济压力（定义为缺乏应对需求的财务资源的主观体验）在心理健康变化中的作用。此外，我们还研究了经济压力与心理健康同家庭收入、储蓄和债务之间的关系。数据显示，在疫情的头六个月里，平均心理健康状况没有变化，但存在相当大的潜在异质性。结果表明，经济压力的变化显著解释了这种异质性。经济压力增加预示着心理健康下降，而经济压力下降则预示着心理健康上升。虽然收入并不能解释经济压力的变化，但储蓄减少和债务增加与经济压力增加有关，而经济压力增加又与心理健康呈负相关。我们讨论了研究结果对精神卫生保健和金融安全政策的影响，并为未来研究提供了建议。
