The Impact of Financial Health on the Spiritual, Mental, and Relational Health of Christian Graduate Students

DESCRIPTION: Financial stress can affect seminary students across multiple dimensions of well-being, including spiritual, mental, and relational health. Using data from 189 students at five theological seminaries, this study examines whether spiritual health helps explain how financial stress relates to broader health outcomes. Structural equation modeling found that spiritual health accounted for part of the negative relationship between financial stress and both mental and relational health. The authors suggest that supporting students’ spiritual health may be an important component of interventions aimed at improving the holistic well-being of seminarians facing financial strain.

KEYWORDS: financial health; financial stress; holistic health; mental health; relational health; seminary students; spiritual health; student debt; student well-being; theological education

CITATION: She, King Tung “Ryan,” David C. Wang, Andrea L. Canada, and John M. Poston. 2023. “The Impact of Financial Health on the Spiritual, Mental, and Relational Health of Christian Graduate Students.” Pastoral Psychology 72: 85–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-022-01031-1.