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The psychological toll of food insecurity

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  • Alloush, Mo
  • Bloem, Jeffrey R.

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between food insecurity and psychological distress among a sample of poor households in Lebanon. We first document large unconditional differences in various measures of psychological distress based on whether a respondent lives in a household experiencing acute food insecurity. Next we show that these differences persist even when accounting for heterogeneity by interview timing, geography, and other characteristics. Considering results across a variety of regression specifications, we find that experiencing acute food insecurity increases scores on a psychological distress index by at least 0.16 standard deviations. These results carry implications for the literature on the mental health consequences of food insecurity and poverty alleviation policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "The psychological toll of food insecurity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 618-630.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:204:y:2022:i:c:p:618-630
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.10.021
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    3. Jafarov, Jafar & Singh, Tejendra Pratap, 2024. "Harvesting Hunger: The Impact of Opium Ban on Food Security in Afghanistan," OSF Preprints bm3yw, Center for Open Science.
    4. Molina, Teresa & Cho, Yoon Y., 2024. "The Importance of Existing Social Protection Programs for Mental Health in Pandemic Times," IZA Discussion Papers 16737, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Food Insecurity; Psychological Well-being; Depression; Mental Health; Stress; Food Vouchers; Poverty; Lebanon;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development

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