Citation

Jones RW. Sociol. Inq. 2019; 89(4): 677-702.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Alpha Kappa Delta, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/soin.12278

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 2012, the outstanding student loan balance in the United States surpassed $1 trillion, and between 2005 and 2012, the student loan delinquency rate increased by 77 percent. Simultaneously, by the end of the 2005-2012 time period, the total suicide rate in the United States reached the highest levels in more than a decade. To investigate the recent trends in student loans and suicide, this paper examined the association between state-level student loan debt, student loan delinquency, and total, age-, and sex-specific suicide rates. The study used a hybrid (decompositional) longitudinal regression approach to examine the relationship between student loan debt, delinquency, and suicide rates during the 2005-2012 time period. The results showed student loan delinquency had a positive and significant effect on several of the suicide rates examined within states but had no effect on suicide rates between states net of controls. The results also showed student loan debt had a significant and negative association with suicide for people ages 20-24 and 25-34. © 2019 Alpha Kappa Delta: The International Sociology Honor Society

Language: en