Background
As adolescents transition to increased independence, they may also begin to encounter financial difficulties, including debt, which may contribute to psychological distress. While financial difficulties and experienced financial scarcity have been well-documented contributors to suicidality in adults, their impact on adolescent populations remains underexplored. The current study aims to elucidate the relationship between late adolescents’ own debts or their experienced financial scarcity and the prevalence of self-harm, including both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicidality (suicidal ideation/attempt).
Methods
Data from the first follow-up measurement (T1) of a population-based high-risk cohort in the Netherlands were utilized. For the present study, adolescents (n = 650, mean age at T1 = 17.9 years) provided self-reported data on unsecured debts, experienced financial scarcity, NSSI and suicidality. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between these variables, adjusting for potential confounding factors, including individual, sociodemographic, and socioenvironmental influences.
Results
The presence of unsecured debts was associated with an increased prevalence of suicidality (adjusted OR = 1.94, p = .046), but not with NSSI (p = .068). In contrast, greater experienced financial scarcity was associated with a higher prevalence of both NSSI (adjusted OR = 1.09, p = .004) and suicidality (adjusted OR = 1.15, p < .001).
Conclusions
These results underscore the importance of addressing financial difficulties, particularly debts and experienced financial scarcity, in adolescents at-risk for NSSI and suicidality. Interventions aimed at mitigating the effects of financial strain – such as financial education or support programs – may be important in reducing the risk of self-harm in this population. Further research is needed to explore the efficacy of early intervention strategies.