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

Ibraheem M. Karaye (), Nadia Koyratty, Stephanie Rogus and Lauren Clay
Additional contact information
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

World, 2022, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-10

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.

Keywords: food insecurity; anxiety; depression; mental health; United States; New York (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/52/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/3/4/52/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:4:p:52-937:d:976408

Access Statistics for this article

World is currently edited by Ms. Cassie Hu

More articles in World from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().