Persistent Food Insecurity Is Associated with Adverse Mental Health among Women Living with or at Risk of HIV in the United States

doi:10.1093/jn/nxy203

The Journal of Nutrition

Volume 149, Issue 2, February 2019, Pages 240-248

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ABSTRACT

Background

Food insecurity and mental health negatively affect the lives of women in the United States. Participants in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) provided the opportunity to understand the association of food insecurity with depression and mental well-being over time.

Objective

We investigated the association between current and persistent food insecurity and depression among women at risk of or living with HIV in the United States.

Methods

We used longitudinal data from the WIHS, a prospective cohort study in women at risk of or living with HIV from multiple sites in the United States. Participants completed 6 semiannual assessments from 2013 to 2016 on food security (FS; high, marginal, low, and very low) and mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms and mental well-being). We used multiple regression analysis to estimate the association between these variables.

Results

Among 2551 participants, 44% were food insecure and 35% reported depressive symptoms indicative of probable depression. Current marginal, low, and very low FS were associated with 2.1-, 3.5-, and 5.5-point (all P < 0.001) higher depression scores, respectively. In models adjusting for both current and previous FS, previous marginal, low, and very low FS were associated with 0.2-, 0.93-, and 1.52-point higher scores, respectively (all P < 0.001). Women with very low FS at both time points (persistent food insecurity) had a 6.86-point higher depression score (P < 0.001). In the mental health models, there was a dose-response relation between current FS and worse mental health even when controlling for previous FS (all P < 0.001). Previous low FS was associated with worse mental health. These associations did not differ by HIV status.

Conclusions

Food insecurity placed women at risk of depression and poor mental well-being, but the risk was substantially higher for women experiencing persistent food insecurity. Future interventions to improve women's mental health call for multilevel components that include addressing food insecurity.

Key Words

food insecurity

HIV

mental health

women

United States

Abbreviations used

CES-D

Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression

HFSSM

Household Food Security Survey Module

MOS-HIV

Medical Outcome Study HIV Health Survey

WIHS

Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Cited by (0)

: Supported by grant T32NR007081 from the National Institute of Nursing Research and grant R01MH095683 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Data in this manuscript were collected by the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of the NIH. WIHS offices (principal investigators) are as follows: University of Alabama at Birmingham WIHS (Michael Saag, Mirjam-Colette Kempf, and Deborah Konkle-Parker), U01-AI-103401; Atlanta WIHS (Ighovwerha Ofotokun and Gina Wingood), U01-AI-103408; Bronx WIHS (Kathryn Anastos), U01-AI-035004; Brooklyn WIHS (Howard Minkof and Deborah Gustafson), U01-AI-031834; Chicago WIHS (Mardge Cohen and Audrey French), U01-AI-034993; Metropolitan Washington WIHS (Seble Kassaye), U01-AI-034994; Miami WIHS (Margaret Fischl and Lisa Metsch), U01-AI-103397; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill WIHS (Adaora Adimora), U01-AI-103390; Connie Wofsy Women's HIV Study, Northern California (Ruth Greenblatt, Bradley Aouizerat, and Phyllis Tien), U01-AI-034989; WIHS Data Management and Analysis Center (Stephen Gange and Elizabeth Golub), U01-AI-042590; Southern California WIHS (Alexandra Levine and Marek Nowicki), U01-HD-032632 (WIHS I–WIHS IV). The WIHS is funded primarily by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with additional co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute on Mental Health. Targeted supplemental funding for specific projects is also provided by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health. WIHS data collection is also supported by UL1-TR000004 (UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Award) and UL1-TR000454 (Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Award).