Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38978584›Full record

ArticleResearch square2024

The COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity, and psychosocial well-being in young South Africans newly diagnosed with HIV: a mediation analysis.

Connor Bondarchuk, Tiffany Lemon, Andrew Medina-Marino, Elzette Rousseau, Siyaxolisa Sindelo, Nkosiypha Sibanda, Lisa Butler, Linda-Gail Bekker, Valerie Earnshaw, Ingrid Katz

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In one paragraph

Article in Research square, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Connor BondarchukHarvard University.
Tiffany LemonArizona State University.
Andrew Medina-MarinoDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Elzette RousseauDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Siyaxolisa SindeloDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Nkosiypha SibandaDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Lisa ButlerQueen's University.
Linda-Gail BekkerDesmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Valerie EarnshawUniversity of Delaware.
Ingrid KatzHarvard University.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPoor psychological well-being, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, is both prevalent among young South Africans living with HIV and associated with poor HIV clinical outcomes. By impacting food insecurity and employment, the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced psychological well-being in this population. This analysis sought to examine whether food insecurity and unemployment mediated the relationship between study cohort (pre- versus during-pandemic) and psychological well-being in our sample of young South Africans living with HIV.

methodsThis was a secondary analysis comparing baseline data from two cohorts of young South Africans ages 18-24 from the Cape Town and East London metro areas who tested positive for HIV at clinics (or mobile clinics) either before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baseline sociodemographic, economic, and psychological outcomes were analyzed through a series of bivariate logistic regression and mediation analyses. All data were analyzed in 2023 and 2024.

resultsReported food anxiety, insufficient food quality, and insufficient food quantity were lower in the cohort recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic than those recruited before the pandemic (p<0.001). Higher levels of food insecurity predicted higher depressive and anxiety symptoms and lower self-esteem. Food anxiety, insufficient food quality, and insufficient food quality, but not unemployment, mediated the relationship between study cohort and depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and self-esteem.

conclusionFood insecurity may have decreased amongst our sample of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings build on our understanding of how the psychological well-being of young people living with HIV was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and may lend support to interventions targeting food insecurity to improve psychological well-being in this population.

Indexed as

anxietyAYAsCOVID-19depressionfood insecurityHIV/AIDSself-esteemsocioeconomic factors

Identifiers

PMID38978584
PMCPMC11230501

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