The Impact of Private Educational Expenditure on Adolescent Depression and Somatic Symptoms

Abstract

This study examined the effect of private educational expenditure on adolescent depression and somatic symptoms. The sample comprised 2,589 first-grade middle-school students who completed the 2018 Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey. Data were analyzed using ANOVA (the generalized linear model), multiple regression, and quantile regression analysis. The principal results were as follows. First, 15.15% of adolescents reported depression symptoms, and 15.57% reported somatic symptoms. Second, levels of depression were significantly different among classes with a different level of private educational expenditure. Third, depression level was significantly negatively associated with private educational expenditure, in that the higher the private educational expenditure, the lower the depression level. Fourth, the effect of private educational expenditure on adolescent depression was significant at the 70~90th quantile regression, suggesting that private educational expenditure was associated with a higher level of depression symptoms. The results indicate that private education was viewed as a consumption commodity rather than a complementary educational practice or investment in human capital. Private education as a commodity might induce the highly developed and costly private education market. In turn, there is an increased financial burden for education at one end of the social-economic continuum and depression caused by relative deprivation at the other end.