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The relationship between financial insecurity and mental disorders among adolescents: The
protective effect of perceived social support.

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 Xiao Zhang, Natasha De-Silva, Eric Shanazari, Kim Rogers, Christopher Rogers, Myriam Forster
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Background: Mental health challenges are the leading cause of death and disability among
adolescents. Numerous studies suggest that financial insecurity (FI) negatively impacts mental
health, often leading to depression and anxiety. However, almost no research investigates a) the
relationship between perceived FI (worry about money, a place to live, food or clothing) and
depression and anxiety symptoms among diverse adolescents and b) whether perceived social
support can offset the risk of FI for mental disorders.

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Methods: Data are survey responses (N=1,769) from a diverse sample of high school students enrolled in the Supporting Student
Health and Resilience (SHARE) project. GLMs tested the hypothesized relationships between FI
and depression (CESD), and anxiety (GAD-7) symptoms (adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and
state) and whether perceived social support (MSPSS) moderated these relationships.

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Results: On average, students were 15.6 (SD=2.0) years old, evenly divided by sex (48% male), and 31%
identified as White, 31% as African American, 22% as Hispanic, 9% as Multiethnic, and 7% as
Asian. Over 1 in 4 students (27%) reported FI, 48% had moderate to high depressive symptoms,
and 33% had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms. FI was associated with significantly higher
odds of screening positive for depression (AOR:2.3, 95%CI:1.665-3.216) and anxiety (AOR:2.8,
95%CI:2.029-3.806), while higher perceived social support was associated with significantly
lower odds of depression (AOR:0.9, 95%CI:0.871-0.929) and anxiety (AOR:0.9, 95%CI:0.894-
0.951). Importantly, high levels of perceived social support offset the negative effects of FI for
depression (p<0.05) but not anxiety.

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Discussion: Our results confirm that FI can increase the risk of depression and anxiety; however, perceptions of having high social support can improve mental health symptomology among youth experiencing financial strain. School support programs need to consider the role of financial strain on mental wellbeing and invest in initiatives that foster protective factors such as social support.
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