Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 31;20(3):2500. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032500.
Rural veterans have poorer health, use healthcare services less often than their urban counterparts, and have more prevalent food insecurity than average U.S. households. Food insecurity and resource use may be influenced by modifiable psychological attributes such as grit and help-seeking behaviors, which may be improved through interventions. Grit and help-seeking have not been previously evaluated among rural veterans. Thus, this cross-sectional study evaluated the hypothesis that grit and help-seeking were associated with food insecurity and the use of resources. Food security, resource use, grit, and help-seeking behavior were assessed among rural veterans (≥18 years) from five food pantries in southern Illinois counties ( = 177) from March 2021 to November 2021. Adjusted multiple regression was used to estimate the relationship between the odds of food insecurity and the use of resources with grit and help-seeking scores. Higher grit scores were significantly associated with lower odds of food insecurity (OR = 0.5, = 0.009). No other associations were detected. The results provided evidence to inform the content of future educational interventions to improve food insecurity and address health disparities among rural veterans by addressing grit. The enhancement of psychological traits such as grit is related to food security and has the potential to benefit other aspects of well-being.
农村退伍军人的健康状况较差，使用医疗保健服务的频率低于城市退伍军人，而且粮食不安全状况比美国家庭更为普遍。粮食不安全和资源利用情况可能受到可改变的心理特征（如坚毅和寻求帮助的行为）的影响，这些特征可以通过干预措施得到改善。在农村退伍军人中，坚毅和寻求帮助的情况以前没有得到评估。因此，本横断面研究评估了以下假设：坚毅和寻求帮助与粮食不安全和资源利用有关。2021 年 3 月至 11 月期间，从伊利诺伊州南部县的五个食品储藏室中评估了农村退伍军人（≥18 岁）的粮食安全状况、资源利用情况、坚毅和寻求帮助行为（n = 177）。使用调整后的多元回归来估计粮食不安全和资源利用情况与坚毅和寻求帮助评分之间的关系。较高的坚毅评分与较低的粮食不安全几率显著相关（OR = 0.5， = 0.009）。未发现其他关联。研究结果提供了证据，说明未来的教育干预措施可以通过解决坚毅问题来改善农村退伍军人的粮食不安全状况，并解决农村退伍军人的健康差异问题。心理特征（如坚毅）的增强与粮食安全有关，并有潜力使其他方面的幸福感受益。
