The psychological toll of food insecurity
We investigate the relationship between food insecurity and psychological distress among a sample of poor households in Lebanon. We first document large unconditional differences in various measures of psychological distress based on whether a respondent lives in a household experiencing acute food...
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/141279 |
| Sumario: | We investigate the relationship between food insecurity and psychological distress among a sample of poor households in Lebanon. We first document large unconditional differences in various measures of psychological distress based on whether a respondent lives in a household experiencing acute food insecurity. Next we show that these differences persist even when accounting for heterogeneity by interview timing, geography, and other characteristics. Considering results across a variety of regression specifications, we find that experiencing acute food insecurity increases scores on a psychological distress index by at least 0.16 standard deviations. These results carry implications for the literature on the mental health consequences of food insecurity and poverty alleviation policy. |
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