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Is Food Insecurity Associated with Depressive Symptoms in South Korea?
Author(s) -
Kim Youngmi,
Park Aely,
Huang Jin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
asian social work and policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.286
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1753-1411
pISSN - 1753-1403
DOI - 10.1111/aswp.12111
Subject(s) - food security , food insecurity , psychological intervention , mental health , scale (ratio) , psychology , environmental health , welfare , empirical research , supplemental nutrition assistance program , observational study , depression (economics) , center for epidemiologic studies depression scale , public health , poverty , agriculture , depressive symptoms , geography , medicine , economic growth , political science , economics , psychiatry , philosophy , law , macroeconomics , anxiety , archaeology , pathology , epistemology , cartography , nursing
Emerging studies have suggested a possible link between food hardship and depression; however, empirical knowledge is limited. In South Korea, more public discussion has been conducted regarding the prevalence and consequences of food insecurity on mental health. To begin to address the knowledge gap, we applied family stress theory and investigated the association of food insecurity with depression in South Korea. We employed observational data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study, the first data to draw on food insecurity information from a nationally representative sample in Korea. Our sample consisted of 744 non‐elderly household heads. The independent variable “food insecurity” was measured using a six‐item scale adapted from the United States Department of Agriculture Food Security Scale. The dependent variable “depression” was measured using 11 questions from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale adapted for Koreans. After controlling for income, material hardship, and other factors, our ordinary least squares regression findings show that food insecurity significantly predicts depression. Our findings are consistent whether food insecurity is measured on a continuum or in categorical groups. More research and empirical evidence should be shared to provide legitimate grounds for policy interventions that address and prevent food insecurity and mental health issues.