The issue of credit-card debt among college students has received increasing attention. This study explored factors hypothesized to be causes and effects of credit-card debt in 448 students on five college campuses. Students reported an average of $1,035 (SD 5 $1,849) in debt, including students without credit cards or credit-card debt. Lack of financial knowledge, age, number of credit cards, delay of gratification, and attitudes toward credit-card use were related to debt. Sensation seeking, materialism, the Student Attitude Toward Debt scale, gender, and grade point average were not unique predictors of debt. Students reporting greater debt reported greater stress and decreased financial well being. Results highlight the need for comprehensive financial literacy education among college students.Credit-card debt among college students has become an increasing concern in recent years. Newspapers and magazines cover the topic on a regular basis, and legislators seek ways to stem the tide of indebted students. Although there is a great deal of data indicating that students are in debt, little is known about why students fall into debt. The present study explores the relative weight of personality factors, attitudes toward money and possessions, and financial knowledge as predictors of credit-card debt among college students.

The current study examined the relationship between money attitudes, impulsivity, locus of control, life satisfaction, and stress and credit‐card debt in 227 college students. Students reported an average credit‐card debt of $ 1,518, with over 75% of students holding at least one credit card. Students with credit cards from on‐campus solicitation had higher debt‐to‐income ratios than did those with credit cards from other sources. Personality variables were generally unrelated to level of debt, although they were related to attitudes toward money. Many students requested information about credit and debt, suggesting that knowledge of financial issues may be an important variable for future consideration.

We explored the possibility of applying 4 psychological scales developed and commonly used in the West to Chinese culture. The participants, 273 Chinese and 302 Americans, completed measures of self-esteem (Self-Esteem Scale; Rosenberg, 1965), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale; Radloff, 1977), social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988), and suicidal ideation (Scale for Suicide Ideation; Beck, Kovacs, & Weissman, 1979). All scales were found to be reliable and valid cross culturally. Comparative analyses suggest that gender differences on all 4 scales are smaller among the Chinese than the Americans. Americans were more likely to score higher on the socially desirable scales (self-esteem and social support) and lower on the socially undesirable scale (suicidal ideation). However, no cultural differences were found in this study on the measure of depression. Results suggest that, with a few considerations or potential modifications, the current measures could be used in Chinese culture.