3433-vol. 6 issue 2-3.pmd - iarfc

Volume 6, Issue 2 & 3 99
significantly lower confidence level than the other age groups. See Table 6.
In addition, the group made up of those in Later Adulthood and Very Old Age
showed significantly more confidence in their ability to get out of debt than
the other three groups as shown in Table 6. This group of participants was
also significantly less worried about their credit card debt than the other age
groups as reported in Table 7.
Table 6
Means for Theory-Based Age Groups and Confidence
Group (N) Means Std. Error Group Difference
Later Adolescence (36) 16.67 .82 1 < 2,3,4
Early Adulthood (73) 19.56 .58
Middle Adulthood (133) 19.93 .43
Later Adulthood and Very Old Age (19) 23.58 1.13 4 > 1,2,3
F (3, 259) = 8.618, p= .000; Wilks’ Lambda=.890; partial eta squared=.038
Table 7
Means For Theory-Based Age Groups and Worry
Group (N) Means Std. Deviation Group
Difference
Later Adolescence (36) 3.50 .12
Early Adulthood (73) 3.34 .09
Middle Adulthood (133) 3.36 .06
Later Adulthood and Very Old Age (19) 2.58 .17 4 > 1,2,3
F (3, 259) = 7.429, p=.000
Discussion
The current study examined the relationship of age to worries about
credit card debt and confidence about one’s ability to resist temptations that
might lead to greater debt in a sample ranging in age from 20 to 85. All
participants were contacted through a consumer credit counseling agency
and self-identified as having troubling credit card debt. The majority of
participants was in some type of credit counseling program and had already
begun to take steps to reduce their debt as evidenced by being in the Action
or Maintenance stages according to the TTM. These limitations may
decrease generalizability to the larger consumer population that has significant
but not troubling credit card debt. At the same time, it increases
generalizability to those who are most likely to be served by consumer credit
counseling programs.
Research & Theory