With student loan borrowing becoming an increasingly common experience in U.S. households, it is crucial to understand the interpersonal manifestation of education debt within family systems. This study sought to understand how accruing and repaying student loan debt for one’s own higher education relates to family dynamics and communication within families. Leveraging Family Communication Patterns Theory, this study asked: How do student loan borrowers describe loan-related family communication patterns prior to loan accrual and during the repayment period? Utilizing qualitative and quantitative data collected through a concurrent nested mixed methods study design, findings from this study profile family communication typologies leading up to, and during, student loan repayment. Study findings suggest that the ways in which families communicate about student loans prior to loan accrual and during repayment (a) relate to family financial socialization processes and (b) play at least a partial role in how they experience student loans as part of their overall family dynamics. This study proposes a model of loan-related family communication dynamics and offers implications for future scholarship and practice.

随着学生贷款的借贷在美国家庭中越来越普遍，了解家庭系统中教育债务的人际关系表现至关重要。这项研究试图了解自己的高等教育所产生和偿还的学生贷款债务与家庭动态和家庭内部的沟通如何相关。利用家庭沟通模式理论，该研究提出了问题：学生贷款借款人如何在应计贷款之前和还款期间描述与贷款相关的家庭沟通模式？利用通过并发嵌套混合方法研究设计收集的定性和定量数据，该研究的结果概述了导致学生贷款还款之前和期间的家庭沟通类型。研究结果表明，在应计贷款之前和还款期间，家庭交流学生贷款的方式（a）与家庭财务社会化过程有关，并且（b）至少在他们体验学生贷款的方式中起着部分作用家庭动力。这项研究提出了一个与贷款有关的家庭沟通动态模型，并为未来的奖学金和实践提供了启示。