Due to the increased financial pressure—exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic—that students in higher education need to endure, considerable attention is being drawn towards the determinants of student financial anxiety. A conflicting picture has been captured about financial literacy, which has been shown to either be associated with better financial well-being or to be unrelated to financial stress. While discerning between financial knowledge (‘objective’ financial literacy) and perceived ability to manage personal finances (‘subjective’ financial literacy), this study also explores the impact that students' attitudes towards debt may exert on their financial anxiety. In a sample of 174 university students from the UK, we measured students' financial anxiety, objective and subjective financial literacy, attitudes towards debt and perceived impact of COVID-19 on financial behaviour. Bayesian analyses revealed that only attitudes towards debt and perception of the impact of the pandemic predicted students' financial anxiety. While the evidence in regard to financial literacy was inconclusive, mediation analyses showed that objective financial literacy indirectly impacted financial anxiety by increasing fear of debt. The findings suggest that students' financial anxiety may be reduced by adopting strategies that focus on the subjective perception of debt and of economic circumstances.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间英国学生财务焦虑的决定因素：财务知识和对债务的态度

由于高等教育学生需要承受越来越大的财务压力（因 COVID-19 大流行而加剧），学生财务焦虑的决定因素引起了相当大的关注。人们对金融知识的看法是相互矛盾的，事实证明，金融知识要么与更好的财务状况相关，要么与财务压力无关。在区分金融知识（“客观”金融素养）和个人财务管理能力（“主观”金融素养）的同时，本研究还探讨了学生对债务的态度可能对其财务焦虑产生的影响。我们以 174 名英国大学生为​​样本，测量了学生的财务焦虑、客观和主观财务素养，对债务的态度以及 COVID-19 对财务行为的影响。贝叶斯分析显示，只有对债务的态度和对疫情影响的看法才能预测学生的财务焦虑。虽然有关金融知识的证据尚无定论，但中介分析表明，客观的金融知识通过增加对债务的恐惧而间接影响金融焦虑。研究结果表明，通过采取关注债务和经济状况的主观看法的策略，可以减少学生的财务焦虑。中介分析表明，客观的金融知识通过增加对债务的恐惧而间接影响财务焦虑。研究结果表明，通过采取关注债务和经济状况的主观看法的策略，可以减少学生的财务焦虑。中介分析表明，客观的金融知识通过增加对债务的恐惧而间接影响财务焦虑。研究结果表明，通过采取关注债务和经济状况的主观看法的策略，可以减少学生的财务焦虑。