Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec;51(12):1293-303.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2012.09.009. Epub 2012 Nov 6.

Food insecurity and mental disorders in a national sample of U.S. adolescents

Katie A McLaughlin  1 , Jennifer Greif Green, Margarita Alegría, E Jane Costello, Michael J Gruber, Nancy A Sampson, Ronald C Kessler
Affiliations

Food insecurity and mental disorders in a national sample of U.S. adolescents

Katie A McLaughlin et al. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether food insecurity is associated with past-year DSM-IV mental disorders after controlling for standard indicators of family socioeconomic status (SES) in a U.S. national sample of adolescents.

Method: Data were drawn from 6,483 adolescent-parent pairs who participated in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement, a national survey of adolescents 13 to 17 years old. Frequency and severity of food insecurity were assessed with questions based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Security Scale (standardized to a mean of 0, variance of 1). DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed with the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Associations of food insecurity with DSM-IV/Composite International Diagnostic Interview diagnoses were estimated with logistic regression models controlling for family SES (parental education, household income, relative deprivation, community-level inequality, and subjective social status).

Results: Food insecurity was highest in adolescents with the lowest SES. Controlling simultaneously for other aspects of SES, standardized food insecurity was associated with an increased odds of past-year mood, anxiety, behavior, and substance disorders. A 1 standard deviation increase in food insecurity was associated with a 14% increase in the odds of past-year mental disorder, even after controlling for extreme poverty. The association between food insecurity and mood disorders was strongest in adolescents living in families with a low household income and high relative deprivation.

Conclusions: Food insecurity is associated with a wide range of adolescent mental disorders independently of other aspects of SES. Expansion of social programs aimed at decreasing family economic strain might be one useful policy approach for improving youth mental health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Dr. Kessler has served as a consultant for AstraZeneca, Analysis Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cerner-Galt Associates, Eli Lilly and Co., GlaxoSmithKline Inc., HealthCore Inc., Health Dialog, Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc., Integrated Benefits Institute, John Snow Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Matria Inc., Mensante, Merck and Co., Inc., Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, Pfizer Inc., Primary Care Network, Research Triangle Institute, Sanofi-Aventis Groupe, Shire US Inc., SRA International Inc., Takeda Global Research and Development, Transcept Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Wyeth-Ayerst. He has served on advisory boards for Appliance Computing II, Eli Lilly and Co., Mindsite, Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, Johnson and Johnson, Plus One Health Management, and Wyeth-Ayerst. He has received research support for his epidemiologic studies from Analysis Group Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Co., EPI-Q, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceuticals, Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs., Pfizer Inc., Sanofi-Aventis Groupe, Shire US Inc., and Walgreens Co. Dr. Kessler owns shares of DataStat Inc. Drs. McLaughlin, Green, Alegría, and Costello, Mr. Gruber, and Ms. Sampson report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Macartney S. Child Poverty in the United States 2009 and 2010: Selected Race Groups and Hispanic Origin: American Community Survey Briefs. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau; 2011.
    1. Eamon MK. Influences and mediators of the effect of poverty on young adolescent depressive symptoms. J Youth Adolesc. 2002;31:231–242.
    1. Duncan GJ, Brooks-Gunn J, Kato Klebanov P. Economic deprivation and early childhood development. Child Dev. 1994;65:296–318. - PubMed
    1. McLoyd VC. Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. Am Psychol. 1998;53:185–204. - PubMed
    1. McLeod JD, Nonnemaker JM. Poverty and child emotional and behavioral problems: racial/ethnic differences in processes and effects. J Health Soc Behav. 2000;41:137–161.

Publication types