School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Emil W. Haury Building, PO Box 210030, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2011 Oct;73(7):1071-9. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.07.012. Epub 2011 Jul 30.
A growing number of studies show support for a positive association between food insecurity and poor mental health in developing countries. Few of these studies, however, explore the relationship statistically employing longitudinal data. This study combines ethnography with randomly sampled household-level panel data (two waves) collected in 2009 to examine the association between food insecurity and mental health in rural Zambia. Mental health was measured using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire and food insecurity was assessed utilizing a modified 7-item scale based on local coping strategies used during food shortages. A multilevel linear regression model was employed with repeated measures nested within individuals (N = 280 observations) living in 81 households nested within 16 villages. Regression results confirm the postulated positive association between poor mental health and food insecurity. Food insecurity during the dry season, the time of year in rural Zambia when many households are typically food secure, had a subsequent greater effect on mental health than food insecurity during the rainy season. The difference in the effect was statistically significant at the five-percent level. In a country where mental health care resources are severely lacking, policy and applied efforts aimed at improving access to key agricultural resources, thereby increasing agricultural output, could potentially produce beneficial mental health outcomes.
越来越多的研究表明，在发展中国家，食物不安全与心理健康不良之间存在正相关关系。然而，这些研究中很少有通过纵向数据进行统计学研究。本研究将民族志与 2009 年随机抽取的家庭层面面板数据（两波）相结合，以考察赞比亚农村地区食物不安全与心理健康之间的关系。心理健康采用自我报告问卷进行测量，食物不安全采用基于当地应对食物短缺策略的改良 7 项量表进行评估。使用个体内重复测量嵌套的多层线性回归模型（N=280 个观测值），共 16 个村庄的 81 个家庭。回归结果证实了不良心理健康与食物不安全之间的假设性正相关关系。在赞比亚农村，每年的旱季是许多家庭通常有足够食物的时候，而在这个季节，食物不安全对心理健康的后续影响比雨季更大。这种影响的差异在 5%的水平上具有统计学意义。在一个心理健康护理资源严重匮乏的国家，旨在改善获得关键农业资源机会、从而提高农业产出的政策和应用努力，可能会产生有益的心理健康结果。
