Pitcho Shani, Heller Oren, Chun Yung, Schwartz-Tayri Talia Meital, Grinstein-Weiss Michal
Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Social Policy Institute (SPI) Washington University in St. Louis, USA.
Heliyon. 2024 Apr 26;10(9):e30385. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30385. eCollection 2024 May 15.
Considering the need to gain a deeper understanding of the protective factors associated with coping with food insecurity, specifically in times of severe prolonged stress, the current longitudinal study seeks to examine the role of optimism in the relationship between food insecurity and adverse mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. A three-wave longitudinal study involving 1921 Israeli adults was performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants completed questionnaires assessing food insecurity, anxiety, depression, optimism, and socio-demographic characteristics. To explore the relationship between food insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as the moderating role of optimism in this relationship, we employed a set of panel regression models with individual fixed effects. Our results indicate that the degree and change in food insecurity over time were positively associated with both anxiety and depression symptoms, whereas the degree and change in optimism were negatively correlated. Optimism was found to moderate the association between food insecurity and anxiety symptoms over time, but not the association between food insecurity and depression symptoms. A subgroup analysis revealed that optimism moderated the relationship between food insecurity and anxiety and depression for women, but not for men; for married/coupled individuals but not for singles; for non-parents with regard to anxiety, and for parents with regard to depression. Our results highlight the need to practice and enhance optimism in times of great despair, uncertainty, and hardship, especially in situations of food insecurity where tangible change may take time.
考虑到需要更深入地了解与应对粮食不安全相关的保护因素，特别是在长期严重压力时期，当前的纵向研究旨在探讨乐观主义在新冠疫情期间粮食不安全与不良心理健康结果之间的关系中所起的作用。在新冠疫情期间，对1921名以色列成年人进行了一项三波纵向研究。参与者完成了评估粮食不安全、焦虑、抑郁、乐观主义和社会人口特征的问卷。为了探究粮食不安全与焦虑和抑郁症状之间的关系，以及乐观主义在这种关系中的调节作用，我们采用了一组具有个体固定效应的面板回归模型。我们的结果表明，粮食不安全随时间的程度和变化与焦虑和抑郁症状均呈正相关，而乐观主义的程度和变化则呈负相关。研究发现，随着时间的推移，乐观主义调节了粮食不安全与焦虑症状之间的关联，但未调节粮食不安全与抑郁症状之间的关联。亚组分析显示，乐观主义调节了女性而非男性的粮食不安全与焦虑和抑郁之间的关系；调节了已婚/有伴侣个体而非单身个体的这种关系；调节了非父母人群在焦虑方面以及父母人群在抑郁方面的粮食不安全与焦虑和抑郁之间的关系。我们的结果凸显了在极度绝望、不确定和艰难时期，尤其是在粮食不安全且切实改变可能需要时间的情况下，践行和增强乐观主义的必要性。
