Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Original article

Vol. 152 No. 1314 (2022)

Over-indebtedness, mastery and mental health: a cross-sectional study among over-indebted adults in Switzerland

  • Oliver Hämmig
  • Joanna Herzig
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/SMW.2022.w30151
Cite this as:
Swiss Med Wkly. 2022;152:w30151
Published
28.03.2022

Summary

OBJECTIVES: The aim is to investigate whether and why over-indebted individuals in German-speaking Switzerland have poorer mental health than the general population.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study among over-indebted people in the canton of Zurich was conducted in 2019. The study population (n = 219) was compared to the cantonal subsample of the general adult population selected from the nationally representative sample of the Swiss Health Survey 2017 (n = 1,997). Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to examine associations between over-indebtedness, mastery and health outcomes like mental stress and depression.

RESULTS: Over-indebted people have poorer mental health and weaker mastery than the general population. Low mastery is the strongest predictor of poor mental health (beta coefficient = 0.58/–0.62 for mental stress/depression respectively) among the over-indebted, followed by the perception of one’s health being affected by over-indebtedness (beta coefficient = –0.19/0.15). The amount of debt, anticipated time until repayment of debt and duration of indebtedness had no predictive effects.

CONCLUSION: Surprisingly, traditional debt parameters cannot explain the poor mental health of the over-indebted, in contrast to a strong sense of mastery, which was identified as a highly protective factor.

References

  1. Betti G, Dourmashkin N, Rossi M, Yin Y. Consumer Over-Indebtedness in the EU: measurement and Characteristics. J Econ Stud. 2007;34(2):136–56. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443580710745371
  2. D’Alessio G, Iezzi S. (2013) Household over-indebtedness: definition and measurement with Italian data. In: Bank of Italy (ed.) Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers), Rome, 149.
  3. Comparis (2019) Comparis-Analyse zur Entwicklung der Zahlungswürdigkeit. Höchstand: Über eine halbe Million Personen in der Schweiz sind überschuldet. https://www.comparis.ch/comparis/press/medienmitteilungen/artikel/2019/banken/schlechte-bonitaet/entwicklung-zahlungswuerdigkeit
  4. Bundesamt für Statistik BFS. (2021) Verschuldung: Zahlungsrückstände im Jahr 2019 / Vorhandensein und Häufung von Schuldenarten. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/wirtschaftliche-soziale-situation-bevoelkerung/einkommen-verbrauch-vermoegen/verschuldung.html
  5. Turunen E, Hiilamo H. Health effects of indebtedness: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2014 May;14(1):489. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-489
  6. Richardson T, Elliott P, Roberts R. The relationship between personal unsecured debt and mental and physical health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013 Dec;33(8):1148–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.08.009
  7. Meltzer H, Bebbington P, Brugha T, Farrell M, Jenkins R. The relationship between personal debt and specific common mental disorders. Eur J Public Health. 2013 Feb;23(1):108–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cks021
  8. Bridges S, Disney R. Debt and depression. J Health Econ. 2010 May;29(3):388–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.02.003
  9. Sweet E, Nandi A, Adam EK, McDade TW. The high price of debt: household financial debt and its impact on mental and physical health. Soc Sci Med. 2013 Aug;91(91):94–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.05.009
  10. Ochsmann EB, Rueger H, Letzel S, Drexler H, Muenster E. Over-indebtedness and its association with the prevalence of back pain. BMC Public Health. 2009 Dec;9(1):451. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-451
  11. Münster E, Rüger H, Ochsmann E, Letzel S, Toschke AM. Over-indebtedness as a marker of socioeconomic status and its association with obesity: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2009 Aug;9(1):286. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-286
  12. Warth J, Puth MT, Tillmann J, Porz J, Zier U, Weckbecker K, et al. Over-indebtedness and its association with sleep and sleep medication use. BMC Public Health. 2019 Jul;19(1):957. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7231-1
  13. Blomgren J, Maunula N, Hiilamo H. Over-indebtedness and chronic disease: a linked register-based study of Finnish men and women during 1995-2010. Int J Public Health. 2016 Jun;61(5):535–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-015-0778-4
  14. Dalgard OS, Mykletun A, Rognerud M, Johansen R, Zahl PH. Education, sense of mastery and mental health: results from a nation wide health monitoring study in Norway. BMC Psychiatry. 2007 May;7(1):20. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-7-20
  15. Nicolaisen M, Moum T, Thorsen K. Mastery and Depressive Symptoms: How Does Mastery Influence the Impact of Stressors From Midlife to Old Age? J Aging Health. 2018 Aug;30(7):1084–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264317705782
  16. Pudrovska T, Schieman S, Pearlin LI, Nguyen K. The sense of mastery as a mediator and moderator in the association between economic hardship and health in late life. J Aging Health. 2005 Oct;17(5):634–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264305279874
  17. Pearlin LI, Schooler C. The structure of coping. J Health Soc Behav. 1978 Mar;19(1):2–21. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136319
  18. Schuler D, Tuch A, Buscher N, Camenzind P (2016) Psychische Gesundheit in der Schweiz. Monitoring 2016 (Obsan Bericht 72).
  19. Bundesamt für Statistik BFS. (2019) Schweizerische Gesundheitsbefragung 2017 - Telefonischer und schriftlicher Fragebogen. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/kataloge-datenbanken/publikationen.assetdetail.7606607.html. Accessed 26 Nov 2019
  20. Bundesamt für Statistik BFS. (2019) Die Schweizerische Gesundheitsbefragung 2017 in Kürze - Konzept, Methode, Durchführung. https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/kataloge-datenbanken/publikationen.assetdetail.7606609.html. Accessed 26 Nov 2019
  21. Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606–13. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
  22. Martin A, Rief W, Klaiberg A, Braehler E. Validity of the Brief Patient Health Questionnaire Mood Scale (PHQ-9) in the general population. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2006 Jan-Feb;28(1):71–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2005.07.003
  23. Berwick DM, Murphy JM, Goldman PA, Ware JE Jr, Barsky AJ, Weinstein MC. Performance of a five-item mental health screening test. Med Care. 1991 Feb;29(2):169–76. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005650-199102000-00008
  24. Rüesch P, Bartlomé P, Huber C. (2006) Evaluation von Messinstrumenten für den strategischen Bereich “psychische Gesundheit/Stress” erarbeitet im Auftrag von Gesundheitsförderung Schweiz. Zürcher Hochschule Winterthur, Winterthur
  25. Der Bundesrat. Sanierungsverfahren für Privatpersonen. Bericht des Bundesrates in Erfüllung des Postulates 13. 4193 Hêche. https://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/de/home/aktuell/news/2018/2018-03-09.html. Accessed 5 June 2020