Does food security predict poor mental health?

The impact of poverty and socioeconomic status on brain, behaviour, and development: a unified framework

In this article, we, for the first time, provide a comprehensive overview and unified framework of the impact of poverty and low socioeconomic status (SES) on the brain and behaviour. While there are many studies on the impact of low SES on the brain (including cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and even neurotransmitters) and behaviours (including educational attainment, language development, development of psychopathological disorders), prior studies did not integrate behavioural, educational, and neural findings in one framework. Here, we argue that the impact of poverty and low SES on the brain and behaviour are interrelated. Specifically, based on prior studies, due to a lack of resources, poverty and low SES are associated with poor nutrition, high levels of stress in caregivers and their children, and exposure to socio-environmental hazards. These psychological and physical injuries impact the normal development of several brain areas and neurotransmitters. Impaired functioning of the amygdala can lead to the development of psychopathological disorders, while impaired hippocampus and cortex functions are associated with a delay in learning and language development as well as poor academic performance. This in turn perpetuates poverty in children, leading to a vicious cycle of poverty and psychological/physical impairments. In addition to providing economic aid to economically disadvantaged families, interventions should aim to tackle neural abnormalities caused by poverty and low SES in early childhood. Importantly, acknowledging brain abnormalities due to poverty in early childhood can help increase economic equity. In the current study, we provide a comprehensive list of future studies to help understand the impact of poverty on the brain.

Food Security, Financial Resources, and Mental Health: Evidence during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has negatively impacted many households’ financial well-being, food security, and mental health status. This paper investigates the role financial resources play in understanding the relationship between food security and mental health among U.S. households using data from a survey in June 2020. Results show job loss and savings draw down to pay for household bills had a significant relationship with both lower food security and greater numbers of poor mental health days during the pandemic.

Chronic disease treatment seeking and depression

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of depression symptoms and their associated severity on reducing treatment sought for chronic medical conditions in respondents living in a low-/middle-income country.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this paper are provided by the national cross-sectional World Health Survey (2003) completed in Pakistan. The authors constructed two samples: one reporting an angina diagnosis (n=150) and another an arthritis diagnosis (n=176), each reporting two or more respective disease symptoms. Logistic regression models, after controlling for confounding variables, were performed to predict treatment received in the last two weeks for respondents’ respective disease.

Findings

In respondents with angina, depression severity significantly reduced the likelihood of angina treatment received in the two weeks before survey; depression treatment significantly increased this likelihood. In respondents with arthritis, no psychopathologic variables predicted arthritis treatment received.

Research limitations/implications

This paper works to elucidate the constructs underlying the heavy chronic disease burdens, we currently witness in low-/middle-income countries. As the authors’ design is cross-sectional, future research would benefit from using longitudinal designs to further investigate the relationship between these morbidities.

Practical implications

These findings encourage further collaboration between medical and mental health professionals to develop stratified treatment strategies, especially in potentially underdeveloped settings, such as Pakistan. This paper also encourages the development of policy intended to provide residents of Pakistan and countries in similar socioeconomic positions with more medical and psychiatric treatment services.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in identifying the relationship between these morbidities in a large, population-based sample of respondents from a low-/middle-income country, Pakistan.