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A recent study conducted by the University of Arizona School of Family and Consumer Sciences has concluded that the bleak economic times are having a far-reaching effect on the social lives and personal well-being of students. The study, called the Arizona Pathways to Life Success for University Study, surveyed over 2,000 freshmen in the spring of 2008.
 
Financial pressures have prompted a decrease in the psychological, physical and academic well-being of the students being surveyed, according to Joyce Serido, assistant research scientist for the School of Family and Consumer Sciences and the project manager and co-principle investigator for the study.

“Their relationships with their friends dramatically decreased, and based on their comments, a lot of them don’t have time to socialize,” Serido said. “They don’t have the money to socialize.”

Dr. Marian Binder, director of UA Counseling and Psychological Services, said the financial struggle facing most students has had an obvious effect on the mental health of those trying to afford tuition costs of college, including the required school materials.

“They have to curtail their purchasing of books. They have to curtail their purchasing of food, and in those ways for students who are impacted at that level, it can certainly have an impact on their academic performance, both in terms of not being as well rested or having as good nutrition as they should for optimal focus, and also in terms of not having all the materials they might best have to be prepared for school,” Binder said. “If you can’t afford to buy all your textbooks, it’s obviously going to impact your preparedness for school.”

The study also concluded that 60 percent of those surveyed showed an increase in credit card debt since their freshman year in 2008, while 86 percent showed an increase in applying for student loans for their sophomore year.

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