The relationship between personal debt and mental health: a systematic review

Authors:
FITCH Chris, et al
Journal article citation:
Mental Health Review Journal, 16(4), 2011, pp.153-166.
Publisher:
Emerald

A systematic review was undertaken to identify peer reviewed literature in English from 1980 to 2009 in order to evaluate the evidence on the extent to which personal debt impacts on mental health, and mental health on personal debt. Database searches resulted in the identification of 50 papers meeting the inclusion criteria. These were appraised by the research team and this article presents the results of the analysis. It discusses research on the temporal relationship between debt and mental health, whether the type and size of debt matter, the role of age, income or assets in the relationship between indebtedness and mental health, the process through which debt, mental health and other factors interacted, debt and self-harm or suicide, and compulsive buying. The review found that methodological limitations made it difficult to definitively demonstrate whether indebtedness causes poor mental health, and that existing research either uses definitions of debt which lack specificity or definitions of mental health which are too broad, but that plausible data exist which indicate that indebtedness may contribute to the development of mental health problems. The authors suggest topics for further research, and note that those working with people with debt problems need to be aware of the potential risk of reduced mental well-being or mental disorder.

Subject terms:
mental health problems, debt;
Content type:
research review
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN print:
1361-9322

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