IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jworld/v3y2022i4p52-937d976408.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association between Food Worry and Self-Rated Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Ibraheem M. Karaye

    (Department of Population Health, Hofstra University, 106 Hofstra Dome, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA)

  • Nadia Koyratty

    (Department of Emergency Health Services, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA)

  • Stephanie Rogus

    (Department of Family & Consumer Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA)

  • Lauren Clay

    (Department of Emergency Health Services, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA)

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the association between food worry and self-rated anxiety and depression during the early phase of COVID-19. We recruited a cross-sectional proportional quota sample of 415 respondents from 15 May through July 2020 in New York State. A validated food access survey instrument was administered to the respondents, capturing demographic information and data on food access issues and self-rated mental health. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to examine the relationship between food worry, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Of the respondents included in the study, 43.4% were male, and 55.4% were female. Forty-three percent reported high food worry, and 39.5% and 41.2% reported symptoms suggestive of anxiety and depression, respectively. Respondents with high food worry were more likely than respondents with low or no food worry to experience anxiety symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 4.80; 95% CI: 3.02, 7.62). Likewise, respondents with high food worry had higher odds of reporting depressive symptoms than respondents with low or no food worry (aOR = 3.89; 95% CI: 2.45, 6.18). Identifying the personal and contextual drivers of food worry and mental health outcomes would guide public mental health intervention efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ibraheem M. Karaye & Nadia Koyratty & Stephanie Rogus & Lauren Clay, 2022. "Association between Food Worry and Self-Rated Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic," World, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:4:p:52-937:d:976408
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/52/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/52/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin W Nelson & Adam Pettitt & Jessica E Flannery & Nicholas B Allen, 2020. "Rapid assessment of psychological and epidemiological correlates of COVID-19 concern, financial strain, and health-related behavior change in a large online sample," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Pascal Jordan & Meike C Shedden-Mora & Bernd Löwe, 2017. "Psychometric analysis of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) in primary care using modern item response theory," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Craig Gundersen & Monica Hake & Adam Dewey & Emily Engelhard, 2021. "Food Insecurity during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 153-161, March.
    4. repec:mpr:mprres:5077 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sonia OREFICCE & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2021. "Gender inequality in COVID-19 times: evidence from UK prolific participants," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 261-287, June.
    2. Zuojin Yu & Aurora B. Le & Alexa Doerr & Todd D. Smith, 2022. "Level of Concern, Spending, and External Support Related to COVID-19: A Comparison between Working and Non-Working Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-10, September.
    3. Tehila Refaeli & Netta Achdut, 2021. "Financial Strain and Loneliness among Young Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Psychosocial Resources," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Natalia Sauer & Agnieszka Sałek & Wojciech Szlasa & Tomasz Ciecieląg & Jakub Obara & Sara Gaweł & Dominik Marciniak & Katarzyna Karłowicz-Bodalska, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Well-Being of College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.
    5. Haniyeh Shariatmadary & Sabine O’Hara & Rebecca Graham & Marian Stuiver, 2023. "Are Food Hubs Sustainable? An Analysis of Social and Environmental Objectives of U.S. Food Hubs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Sabrina Suffren & Karine Dubois-Comtois & Jean-Pascal Lemelin & Diane St-Laurent & Tristan Milot, 2021. "Relations between Child and Parent Fears and Changes in Family Functioning Related to COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    7. Elena Carrillo-Álvarez & Blanca Salinas-Roca & Lluís Costa-Tutusaus & Raimon Milà-Villarroel & Nithya Shankar Krishnan, 2021. "The Measurement of Food Insecurity in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-57, September.
    8. Botha, Ferdi & Butterworth, Peter & Wilkins, Roger, 2022. "Protecting mental health during periods of financial stress: Evidence from the Australian Coronavirus Supplement income support payment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    9. Lauren A. Clay & Stephanie Rogus, 2021. "Impact of Employment, Essential Work, and Risk Factors on Food Access during the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York State," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    10. Dalal, Jyotirmoy, 2022. "Food donation management under supply and demand uncertainties in COVID-19: A robust optimization approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PA).
    11. Elise Barboza-Salerno, Gia, 2024. "Material Hardship, Labor Market Characteristics and Substantiated Child Maltreatment: A Bayesian Spatiotemporal Analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    12. Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Yoshihiko Kadoya, 2021. "Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison between Older and Younger People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, July.
    13. Santos, Mateus Rennó & Testa, Alexander & Weiss, Douglas B. & Jackson, Dylan B., 2022. "County jail incarceration rates and food hardship in the United States," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. Gundersen, Craig, 2021. "Viewpoint: A proposal to reconstruct the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a universal basic income program for food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Hélène Rossinot & Romain Fantin & Julien Venne, 2020. "Behavioral Changes During COVID-19 Confinement in France: A Web-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-15, November.
    16. Abrar Tounsi & Shahad Alammar & Nassr Almaflehi & Mohamed Bamashmous & Abdullah Al Madani & Maria Salem Ibrahim, 2021. "Psychometric Validation of the Arabic Fear of Illness and Virus Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Maria Dosil-Santamaria & Naiara Ozamiz-Etxebarria & Nahia Idoiaga Mondragon & Hiram Reyes-Sosa & Javier Santabárbara, 2022. "Emotional State of Mexican University Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-11, February.
    18. Christina Mary Pollard & Timothy John Landrigan & Jennie Margaret Gray & Lockie McDonald & Helen Creed & Sue Booth, 2021. "Using the Food Stress Index for Emergency Food Assistance: An Australian Case Series Analysis during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Natural Disasters," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-15, June.
    19. Kate Mobley & Gita Taasoobshirazi, 2022. "Predicting Suicide in Counties: Creating a Quantitative Measure of Suicide Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, July.
    20. Muddassar Sarfraz & Xiangbo Ji & Muhammad Asghar & Larisa Ivascu & Ilknur Ozturk, 2022. "Signifying the Relationship between Fear of COVID-19, Psychological Concerns, Financial Concerns and Healthcare Employees Job Performance: A Mediated Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-24, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:4:p:52-937:d:976408. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.