ArticleBMC psychiatry2026
Drought exposure and severe mental distress among adolescent girls and young women in Lesotho: the moderating role of food insecurity.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClimate-related shocks such as drought are increasingly recognised as threats to mental health, yet evidence remains limited on how these stressors affect adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Lesotho. This study examines the association between drought exposure and severe mental distress among AGYW in Lesotho and assesses whether household food insecurity moderates this relationship.
methodsWe analysed nationally representative cross-sectional data from 7,101 AGYW aged 13–24 years drawn from the 2018 Lesotho Violence Against Children and Youth Survey. Severe mental distress was measured using the Kessler-6 scale. Drought exposure was defined using district-level Integrated Food Security Phase Classification data. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed independent associations, and interaction terms were used to examine moderation by food insecurity. Predicted probabilities were estimated to illustrate combined effects.
resultsDrought exposure was associated with increased odds of severe mental distress (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.01–2.15; p = 0.045). Food insecurity independently increased the odds of distress (aOR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.06–2.05; p = 0.022). In the interaction model, the association between drought vulnerability and severe mental distress differed by food insecurity status (interaction aOR = 2.21; 95% CI: 1.15–4.27; p = 0.018). AGYW experiencing both drought and food insecurity had the highest predicted probability of severe mental distress.
conclusionsThe association between drought vulnerability and severe mental distress among AGYW in Lesotho was stronger in food-insecure households. Integrated climate adaptation, food security, and mental health interventions may help protect vulnerable AGYW in drought prone settings such as Lesotho.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.