(PS4-95) The Intersection of Food Insecurity and Mental Health Among Military Families

            Food insecurity (FI) is a public health crisis, impacting millions of families across the United States. Overlooked populations, such as veterans or families of service members, often face unique barriers to food security due to emotional distress, traumatic events, and heightened stress. Living with FI has been linked to worsened mental health outcomes, but less is known about the factors that contribute to FI among military-affiliated populations. The present study sought to identify factors that may predict FI among veterans and their families.

Participants (N = 371) aged 18 to 81 (M = 44.04, SD = 14.44) were clients of a local food bank, living with FI. While waiting for services on site, participants completed measures of depression, anxiety, and traumatic events. Of the 371 participants, 13.8% were veterans and 95.1% had family who served in the U.S. military. Participants primarily identified as single (39.6%), Hispanic (71.7%), women (60.4%).

Of the participants, 91.2% reported living with FI. To further understand the mental health impacts of FI, we compared our sample (military families living with FI) with two other samples (military members not experiencing FI) who reported depression and anxiety. Effect sizes between groups were small for anxiety (among veterans with COVID exposure; Cohen’s d = 0.2) and medium for depression (Cohen’s d = -.50). Additionally, we observed a significant correlation between anxiety and FI in our sample (p = .02), suggesting that higher anxiety is significantly correlated with severe FI.

Results highlight higher levels of depression in military families living with FI compared with military families not experiencing FI. Further, we found a significant correlation between anxiety and FI. This positive relationship between anxiety and FI could suggest that individuals in military families are more anxious because they are food insecure. However, it could also be interpreted that FI worsens overall anxiety levels. The bidirectional relationship between FI and anxiety and the higher levels of depression in this sample demonstrate the compounding distress of experiencing both FI and veteran status (or being a family member of a veteran). Further research is therefore needed to explore the complex combination of factors that contribute to both FI and psychosocial outcomes in military populations.