Social interactions have an important effect on the subjective well-being of individuals. However, in periods of financial crisis these interactions are reduced, affecting thus the mental health of the individuals as well.

To investigate the effect of the reduction in social interactions, as a result of the economic crisis, on the subjective well-being of non-insurance health care seekers in Greece.

Two hundred and sixty-six individuals participated in this study, 90 (35.6%) males and 163 (64.4%) females, with a mean age of 47. Analysis of data was conducted with Anova, using the SPSS software.

The findings showed that reductions in social interactions, caused by the financial crisis, led to significant reductions in the subjective well-being of individuals as well (F(1.259) = 13.276, P < 0.001 for social activities and F(1,258) = 14.531, P < 0.001 for peer socialization). More specifically, individuals whose social interactions were greatly affected by the financial crisis reported significantly lower subjective well-being than individuals who reported a medium effect (M = −2.952, SD = .764, P < 0.001). Furthermore, individuals who reported that the economic crisis had a great effect on their peer socialization reported significantly lower subjective well-being compared to both those who reported a medium (M = −1.868, SD = .658, P < 0.015) or low (M = −2.77, SD = .809, P < 0.001) effect of the crisis.

The results of this research showed that the financial crisis reduced the well-being of affected individuals through reductions in their social interactions. Further research is needed to investigate appropriate interventions to reduce the negative impact that the financial crisis has on the well-being of affected individuals.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.