Associations of food insecurity and material social support with parent and child mental health during COVID-19

Ward, Kaitlin P.; Lee, Shawna J.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106562

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Job losses in this setting possibly meant that households lacked the income to purchase essential food items [46], which may have caused AGYW to become distressed [25] and develop depressive symptoms. HFI caused by job losses has been shown to be associated with caregiver anxiety, depression, and parenting stress [47]. In addition, poor HFI-induced parent/caregiver mental health is also associated with psychological distress in younger people [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Household Food Insecurity and Depressive Symptomology among Adolescent Girls and Young Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Carries,

Sigwadhi,

Moyo

et al. 2024

Adolescents

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Evidence suggests an association between food insecurity and depressive symptomatology; however, little is known about the association between adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in the context of COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between household food insecurity (HFI) and depressive symptomology among AGYW in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary data analysis was conducted using cross-sectional data collected from the HERStory2 study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from 515 AGYW (aged 15–24 years) recruited from six South African districts using a demographic detail and socio-economic questionnaire as well as the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD-10) Scale. Data were fitted using a multi-variable robust Poisson regression model and controlled for sociodemographic and health factors. The results suggest that the majority of the sample of AGYW were 20 years old, with 74% exposed to HFI and 30.29% experiencing depressive symptomology. AGYW exposed to HFI were 1.80 times at risk of depressive symptomology compared to those from food-secure households [adjusted risk ratio (aRR): 1.80; 95% CI: 1.35–2.42, p < 0.0001)]. Future pandemic-preparedness strategies should incorporate screening for HFI as a means to identify AGYW who may require psychosocial support.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Household Food Insecurity and Depressive Symptomology among Adolescent Girls and Young Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Carries,

Sigwadhi,

Moyo

et al. 2024

Adolescents

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“…Hence, income was found to be a key indicator that affected mental health due to its impact on access to food and other goods and services (Alkhamees et al, 2020;Sieverding et al, 2023;Shuwiekh et al, 2022). Although social assistance was provided to individuals during the pandemic, through an increase in regular assistance programs or through irregular assistance programs, as a way of providing financial protection against its negative repercussions, results reached by previous studies were mixed where a significant impact was found by Tham et al (2021) and Ward and Lee (2022)…”

Section: Repsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health in selected MENA countries during COVID-19: an empirical investigation

Fikry

2024

REPS

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PurposeThe outbreak of COVID-19 not only had serious negative impacts on the world economy but also on the global mental health because of the psychological disorders associated with the spread of the pandemic, the increased degree of uncertainty and the unprecedented measures taken by different countries to face the pandemic’s spread. This paper analyses the mental health well-being of individuals in selected MENA countries (Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) during the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a pooled OLS model using the Economic Research Forum (ERF) COVID-19 MENA Monitor Survey panel dataset collected during 2020 and 2021.FindingsThe findings show that there is no association between the mental health of individuals in the selected countries and their age, gender, family size, marital status, receipt of social support and participation in care work. Mental health improved at higher levels of education, being employed, being a rural area resident and living in Morocco or Tunisia compared to living in Jordan while it worsened as income declined, food insecurity and anxiety about being infected with Covid-19 increased, being a resident in camps, and during waves 4 and 5. Based on these results, it is recommended that suitable financial, physical and human resources should be directed towards the provision of mental health care services in the region. Also, mental health care services should be accessible to different population groups, with a special focus towards the most vulnerable since they are more prone to mental illnesses, especially during health crises and economic shocks. This should be accompanied by increasing awareness about the provided services and reducing stigma against mental illnesses. Furthermore, introduction of policies targeted towards reducing food insecurity and income instability can play a key role in enhancing mental well-being.Originality/valueAlthough few papers have previously investigated the impact of COVID-19 on mental health in MENA countries, most of them have focused on a country-level analysis and adopted a gender perspective. Hence, this paper aims at exploring the association between mental health well-being and socio-economic factors in selected MENA countries during the pandemic.

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“…The relatively small literature on the mental health effects of receiving such transfers has shown mixed results and has not focused on gender as a potential mediating factor [ 23 , 26 , 27 ]. In the only study we identified from an LMIC, in South Africa receipt of social grants was weakly positively associated with mental health during the pandemic, but the effect appeared to be short-lived [ 18 ].…”

Section: Theoretical Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mobility restrictions and disruptions to supply chains in many countries also contributed to reduced access to and availability of food and increases in prices that negatively affected food security [24]. A robust global literature that, in contrast to our other domains, includes a number of studies from LMIC contexts, has consistently demonstrated a negative association between food insecurity and mental health during the pandemic [23,[25][26][27], however these studies do not consider the potential mediating role of gender.…”

Section: H1mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective wellbeing in the Middle East and North Africa: A gender analysis

Sieverding,

Krafft,

Selwaness

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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The pathways through which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted population mental health are potentially gendered. Little research has explored these pathways in low- and middle-income country contexts, such as in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, where socioeconomic roles are highly gendered. To address this gap, we examine the relationships between pandemic-related socioeconomic changes and subjective wellbeing in the MENA region. Our core hypothesis is that the COVID-19 pandemic affected men and women’s subjective wellbeing differently in part because these effects were mediated by gendered socioeconomic roles. We exploit multiple waves of longitudinal, nationally-representative phone survey data across Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia. The data were collected between November 2020 and August 2021 and include 32,296 observations of 20,256 unique individuals. Mental health is measured through the WHO-5 subjective wellbeing scale. Our key independent variables capture pandemic-related employment loss, income loss, experience of limitations on food access, enrollment of children in alternative schooling modalities, and receipt of formal and informal transfers. We find significantly worse subjective wellbeing for women in Egypt and Morocco during the pandemic, but not the three other countries. There were negative associations between employment and income loss during the pandemic and subjective wellbeing, but not gender-differentiated ones. In contrast, high levels of limitations on food access were associated with worse mental health for men than women. Receipt of transfers generally did not have any association with subjective wellbeing. Further research is needed into how social assistance programs implemented in response to pandemics may be designed so as to address the negative mental health consequences of such events.

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Associations of food insecurity and material social support with parent and child mental health during COVID-19

Cited by 11 publications

References 38 publications

Associations between Household Food Insecurity and Depressive Symptomology among Adolescent Girls and Young Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Associations between Household Food Insecurity and Depressive Symptomology among Adolescent Girls and Young Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa

Mental health in selected MENA countries during COVID-19: an empirical investigation

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective wellbeing in the Middle East and North Africa: A gender analysis

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