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

Abstract

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.