Stressors and Coping Strategies in Rural Farmers: A Qualitative Study

Examining the Relationship Between Stress, Barriers to Healthcare, and Alcohol Use in the US Agricultural Community

OBJECTIVE

Farming is a high-risk, physically challenging occupation. Considering farmers report high stress and barriers to seeking healthcare, it is important to understand factors influencing alcohol use to tailor interventions and healthcare resources for alcohol use in rural areas.

METHODS

An online survey was distributed to the agricultural community in the United States (n = 1045). Data was collected through QualtricsXM, and SPSS 28.0 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Both formal healthcare challenges (β = 0.112, p = .004) and stigma (β = 0.328, p < .001) were identified as predictors of increased perceived stress, while resilience (β = -0.137, p < .001) was identified as a protective factor against perceived stress. Higher perceived stress was identified as a predictor of binge drinking behavior (β = 0.151, p < .001), and formal healthcare challenges were associated with higher drinking volume (β = 0.174, p < .001), and engaging in more frequent alcohol consumption (β = 0.123, p = .004) over the last three months. Resilience was identified as a protective factor against increased alcohol consumption (β = -0.084, p = .032). Stigmatization of help-seeking for mental health challenges was associated with fewer instances of alcohol consumption over the last three months (β = -0.169, p < .001).

CONCLUSION

Interventions to address stress and alcohol consumption should focus on promoting resilience, reducing stigma, and encouraging peer support to address cultural norms around mental health and alcohol use. Rural practitioners should develop cultural competence to better serve agricultural communities to prevent alcohol use disorders. To discuss ways to reduce stigma and encourage peer support to address alcohol and mental health disorders in rural farming populations.

"They Can't Possibly Understand What I'm Going Through": Female Farmers' Perspectives on Barriers to Care in Georgia

The purpose of this study was to explore female farmers' perspectives on barriers to engaging with resources for physical and mental healthcare faced by agriculture producers in the state of Georgia. In-depth interviews were conducted with female farm owners and managers (n = 16) across the state. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and researchers coded interviews separately before thematic analysis was used to identify common themes. Three primary themes were identified: (i) formal healthcare challenges, (ii) stigma, and (iii) cultural norms. Formal healthcare challenges included time constraints, healthcare costs, and a lack of cultural competence from healthcare providers. Both community and self-stigma were identified as barriers to engaging with mental health resources. Cultural norms that acted as a barrier to care included the prioritization of farm operations, self-reliance, pride, and the minimization of health concerns. Interviewees identified gender differences in the impact of stigma and cultural norms, reporting that these sociocultural barriers were more prominent among older, male producers. Central to many of these barriers is the concept of 'farm identity', where farmers' commitment to their operations consistently trumped concerns about physical or mental health. Future efforts to improve health outcomes among farmers should utilize the concept of farm identity as a guide for tailoring interventions and improving cultural competence among rural healthcare providers.

Promoting Farmer Appreciation in Kentucky through a Farmer Cultural Awareness Project

OBJECTIVES

To address the perception among farmers of lack of appreciation and being devalued by the non-farming public.

METHODS

Oral history interviews were conducted to gather farmers' viewpoints of what the non-farming public needs to know about their occupation.

RESULTS

The creation of a public awareness campaign utilizing interview data, including canvas bags, information cards, and a website.

CONCLUSION

The public awareness campaign provides the non-farming public with opportunities to learn about the lives of farmers and their contributions to society.

The Intersection of Gender and Occupational Roles in Agriculture: Stress, Resilience, and Alcohol Behaviors of US Farmers

OBJECTIVES

The purposes of this study were to explore behavioral and mental health outcomes among a sample of farmers living in the United States and to compare differences between male and female farmers.

METHODS

An online cross-sectional survey was distributed within the farming community by researchers, farming consultants, and community partners. χ 2 and analysis or variance analyses were used to explore relationships between variables of interest.

RESULTS

Female survey respondents reported significantly higher perceived stress and significantly lower resilience than their male counterparts. A significant interaction effect was observed between gender and farm roles on alcohol consumption patterns, with female farm owners and managers reporting binge drinking behavior most frequently.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identified distinct differences between respondents in terms of stress, resilience, and alcohol consumption patterns, based on both gender and occupational roles.

Navigating Farm Stress: Traumatic and Resilient Dimensions of the Black Agrarian Frame

The current period of economic and social instability in the farm economy has generated renewed interest in the framing processes used by farmers to interpret and ascribe blame for the distress they have experienced. Studies show that agrarian frames are differentiated into types based on farmers' historical and contemporary racialized experiences. To investigate the role that agrarian frames play in navigating farm stress, we conducted a thematic analysis using data from interviews with 15 Black farmers from three Southern states. The results identify a Black Agrarian frame with two dimensions: traumatic and resilient. The traumatic dimension provides a system-blame narrative that highlights financial risk driven by institutions and racism as a core factor in farm stress. The resilient dimension describes collective action as a key coping strategy linked to understanding the farm as a multi-faceted asset. In conclusion, research on differentiated agrarian frames is an important component towards understanding how diverse populations navigate farm stress and the development of culturally appropriate resources for addressing it.

Injury, Musculoskeletal Symptoms, and Stress as a Function of Aging in Agricultural Operators in the Central United States

BACKGROUND

Studies show conflicting evidence on the association of age and occupational injury in agriculture, and few studies have addressed the effect of age on work-related chronic conditions or preventive practices among farmers.

METHODS

We examined the probability of injury, work-related stress, musculoskeletal symptoms (MSS), and preventive practices for MSS as a function of aging using surveillance data of 7,711 farm and ranch operators in the central United States.

FINDINGS

Segmented regression analyses of men (85% of sample) indicated that the probability of all four outcomes increased up to a certain age and then decreased; the changepoints in years of age being 59.6 for injury, 55.4 for work-related stress, 59.6 for MSS, and 67.9 for MSS preventive practices. Female operators had an increasing trend for stress up to age 29.7, while they showed no changepoints across their age spectrum in the proportion of injury, MSS, and prevention techniques.

CONCLUSION/APPLICATION TO PRACTICE

These findings emphasize the need for preventive efforts particularly among younger and middle-aged farmers and ranchers, and the need to modify work duties to match work abilities at older ages.

Factors Influencing Farmers' Use of Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping Strategies

OBJECTIVES

Chronic stress is associated with a variety of negative outcomes for farmers in the United States (U.S) and worldwide, who face near-constant exposure to internal (e.g. family conflict) and external (e.g. weather) stressors. Research indicates that farmers' stress may be reduced by engaging in adaptive coping strategies and avoiding maladaptive coping strategies. However, little is known about what predicts their coping strategy use. Informed by the transactional theory of stress and coping, the present manuscript seeks to identify factors associated with U.S. farmers' use of adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies.

METHODS

U.S. farmers (N = 135) completed survey assessments of factors theorized to be associated with coping strategy choice (maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management, farm stress management self-efficacy, age, and sex) as well as measures of adaptive and maladaptive coping.

RESULTS

Farm stress management self-efficacy was a significant, positive predictor of adaptive coping, and maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management were a significant, positive predictor of maladaptive coping. Maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management and farm stress management self-efficacy interacted to predict maladaptive coping, such that the positive relationship between maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management and maladaptive coping was significant at higher levels of self-efficacy. Sex was unrelated to coping strategies, and age was negatively associated with maladaptive coping strategies but unassociated with adaptive coping strategies.

CONCLUSION

The findings point to the utility of increasing farm stress self-management self-efficacy to increase farmers' adaptive coping and reducing maladaptive beliefs about farm stress management to reduce maladaptive coping. Efforts to promote adaptive coping by increasing self-efficacy should also target maladaptive beliefs farmers hold toward stress management, because increasing self-efficacy may also increase the likelihood of maladaptive coping when maladaptive beliefs are present.