University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, 104I Ruth Leverton Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2017 Sep;189:105-113. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.07.030. Epub 2017 Aug 2.
Food insecurity is a persistent social problem affecting one out of eight households in the United States. While evidence shows that public assistance programs (formal assistance) are effective in reducing food insecurity, there is more limited evidence documenting how informal support, through social capital, affects food insecurity.
To examine the role of informal support (through instrumental social support, social cohesion, social control, and social participation) on food insecurity transitions using longitudinal data of a sample of disadvantaged urban mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. In addition, the study examines whether these associations vary by participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) using interaction terms.
The sample includes 2481 mothers of children between ages three and five. The analysis uses unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions. Interaction terms are included to examine formal and informal support. In addition, the analysis uses structural equation modeling to examine direct and indirect associations of the informal support variables on food insecurity.
Social support and social cohesion reduce the risk of food insecurity, reduce the risk of remaining food insecure, and reduce the risk of becoming food insecure. Social control has an indirect effect on food insecurity, which is mainly through social cohesion. Social participation also has an indirect effect through social support and social cohesion. SNAP participation for mothers with little to no informal support did not reduce the risk of food insecurity.
Instead of focusing on improving the food access of households, interventions should be expanded to the neighborhood level. Building social capital for low-income residents would increase the cohesiveness of their neighborhoods and their access to social support, which would increase the availability of resources to prevent or overcome food insecurity and other hardships.
食品不安全是一个普遍存在的社会问题，影响到美国每 8 户家庭中的 1 户。虽然有证据表明公共援助计划（正式援助）在减少食品不安全方面是有效的，但关于非正式支持（通过社会资本）如何影响食品不安全的证据则更为有限。
利用弱势城市母亲脆弱家庭和儿童健康研究的纵向数据，研究非正式支持（通过工具性社会支持、社会凝聚力、社会控制和社会参与）对食品不安全转变的作用。此外，该研究还通过交互项检验了这些关联是否因参与补充营养援助计划（SNAP）而有所不同。
样本包括 2481 名 3 至 5 岁儿童的母亲。分析采用未经调整和调整后的逻辑回归。纳入交互项以检验正式和非正式支持。此外，分析还采用结构方程模型检验非正式支持变量对食品不安全的直接和间接关联。
社会支持和社会凝聚力降低了食品不安全的风险，降低了持续食品不安全的风险，降低了成为食品不安全的风险。社会控制对食品不安全有间接影响，主要通过社会凝聚力。社会参与也通过社会支持和社会凝聚力产生间接影响。对于几乎没有非正式支持的母亲来说，SNAP 参与并没有降低食品不安全的风险。
干预措施不应仅着眼于改善家庭的食品获取，而应扩大到邻里层面。为低收入居民建立社会资本将增强其邻里的凝聚力和获取社会支持的能力，从而增加资源的可获得性，以预防或克服食品不安全和其他困难。
