This study examined the effects of food insecurity and housing instability experiences during early childhood on adolescent anxiety and depressive symptoms through maternal depression and parenting stress. This longitudinal study included 4 waves of data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (n ϭ 2,626). Food insecurity was measured when the child was 5 years of age using the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 18-item Food Security Scale. Housing instability was also measured when the child was 5 years of age based on an affirmative response to 6 housing adversity items. Maternal depression and parenting stress were measured when the child was 9 years of age. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed when the child (now adolescent) was 15 years of age using 6 items of the Brief Symptom Inventory 18 anxiety subscale and 5 items of the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, respectively. Two structural equation models assessed the associations between food insecurity and housing instability on adolescent anxiety (Model 1) and depressive symptoms (Model 2) through maternal depression and parenting stress simultaneously, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Results suggest that experiencing both food insecurity and housing instability during early childhood increases the risk of long-term adolescent depressive (indirect: B ϭ 0.008, 95% CI [0.002, 0.016]) and anxiety (indirect: B ϭ 0.012, 95% CI [0.002, 0.026]) symptoms through maternal depression to parenting stress. Screening for food insecurity and housing instability during early childhood could potentially identify both mothers who are at risk for depression and parenting stress and children who are at increased risk for anxiety or depressive symptoms during adolescence.

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Medical professionals’ healthy eating and physical activity behaviors are likely to wane as other life events and everyday pressures increase. This is vital because as health behaviors decrease, the likelihood that this topic is addressed with patients also decreases. Increased training to improve health care providers’ knowledge about lifestyle behaviors may be inadequate to actually bring about a healthier lifestyle. The area of personal identity and value formation may shed light on a significant barrier in this area. Developing health care professionals who have values consistent with a healthy diet and physical activity, instead of just being informed about it, would increase the likelihood that healthy behavior changes are discussed with patients. Strategies to encourage value formation around healthy lifestyles among medical professionals are discussed.