ArticlePublic health nutrition2019
Does social support modify the relationship between food insecurity and poor mental health? Evidence from thirty-nine sub-Saharan African countries.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social support coping strategies among sub-Saharan African refugees: A systematic review and meta-synthesis.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Review
- A study of the link between food-water insecurities and self-reported psychotic experiences among young adults in Gaza Strip: What role does social support play under conditions of war and extreme suffering?International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Associations of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale with Socioeconomic and Psychological Factors in Japan.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Article
- Associations of Unmet Food and Housing Needs with Mental Health and Overall Perceived Health Among Women with HIV: Is There a Moderating Effect of Social Support?Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- A Method for Assessing the Prevalence of Food Insecurity in Older Adults Based on Resource Constraints and Food-Related Physical Functioning Limitations.Current developments in nutrition · 2024Article
- Food Insecurity and Women's Choice of Reversible Contraceptives: Differential Effects by Maternal Age.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Association between socioeconomic position of the household head, food insecurity and psychological health: an application of propensity score matching.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Review
- Effect of food insecurity on depression, anxiety, and stress among resettled Syrian refugees in Ontario.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- The unmet need for mental health support among persons with disabilities in Somalia: Principal correlates and barriers to access.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Food Security and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Foreign-Born Immigrants in the US: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2023Article
- Understanding the Relationship between Food Security and Mental Health for Food-Insecure Mothers in Virginia.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Investigating the role of climate-related disasters in the relationship between food insecurity and mental health for youth aged 15-24 in 142 countries.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Assessing the relationship between domestic work experience and musculoskeletal health among rural Nigerian women.PloS one · 2022Article
- Financial Wellbeing and Quality of Life Among a Sample of the Lebanese Population: The Mediating Effect of Food Insecurity.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Understanding Rural Women's Domestic Work Experiences (DWE) in Ibadan, Nigeria: Development of a Measurement Tool Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Food security mediates the decrease in women's depressive symptoms in a participatory nutrition-sensitive agroecology intervention in rural Tanzania.Public health nutrition · 2021Article
- Does social support moderate the association between hunger and mental health in youth? A gender-specific investigation from the Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.Nutrition journal · 2020Article
- Psychosocial Risk Factors for Food Insecurity in Puerto Ricans Living in the USA from Baseline to 5-Year Follow-Up.The Journal of nutrition · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe present study aimed to determine the relationship among food insecurity, social support and mental well-being in sub-Saharan Africa, a region presenting the highest prevalence of severe food insecurity and a critical scarcity of mental health care.
designFood insecurity was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). Social support was assessed using dichotomous indicators of perceived, foreign perceived, received, given, integrative and emotional support. The Negative and Positive Experience Indices (NEI and PEI) were used as indicators of mental well-being. Multilevel mixed-effect linear models were applied to examine the associations between mental well-being and food security status, social support and their interaction, respectively, accounting for random effects at country level and covariates.ParticipantsNationally representative adults surveyed through Gallup World Poll between 2014 and 2016 in thirty-nine sub-Saharan African countries (n 102 235).
resultsThe prevalence of severe food insecurity was 39 %. The prevalence of social support ranged from 30 to 72 % by type. In the pooled analysis using the adjusted model, food insecurity was dose-responsively associated with increased NEI and decreased PEI. Perceived, integrative and emotional support were associated with lower NEI and higher PEI. The differences in NEI and PEI between people with and without social support were the greatest among the most severely food insecure.
conclusionsBoth food insecurity and lack of social support constitute sources of vulnerability to poor mental well-being. Social support appears to modify the relationship between food security and mental well-being among those most affected by food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa.
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