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Basic Needs Insecurities Are Associated with Anxiety, Depression, and Poor Health Among University Students in the State of New Mexico
- Source :
- Journal of Community Health
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2022.
-
Abstract
- Basic needs insecurities affect university students disproportionately and may impact health and academic performance. This study examined associations between food insecurity (FI), housing insecurity (HI) and a novel basic needs insecurity score, and mental and physical health among university students. Eight-thousand undergraduate and postgraduate students at a large university in the southwestern U.S. were selected via stratified random sampling to complete an online cross-sectional survey in April 2021. The survey included the USDA 10-item food security module, a 9-item housing insecurity measure, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 screener (GAD-2), the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) assessing depression, and self-rated health. Sociodemographics were self-reported and integrated from the university’s enterprise system. Multiple logistic regression was utilized to examine odds of depression, anxiety, and fair/poor health by food and housing security status. Multiple linear regression was utilized to examine predictors of food insecurity score (range = 0–10), housing insecurity score (range = 0–9), and an overall basic needs insecurity score (range = 0–19). Eight-hundred thirty-three students participated (response rate = 10.4%; mean age = 28.3 years, 66% female, 40% Hispanic, 60% undergraduates). Nearly 26% were food insecure in the past month and 44% were housing insecure in the past year. Basic needs insecurities significantly increased odds of anxiety (FI aOR = 4.35, HI aOR = 3.43), depression (FI aOR = 3.18, HI aOR = 3.16), and fair/poor health (FI aOR = 2.84, HI aOR = 2.81). GAD-2 score explained the most variance in food (r-squared = 0.14), housing (r-squared = 0.12), and basic needs insecurity scores (r-squared = 0.16). Basic needs insecurities remain concerns among university students due to associations with mental and physical health, prompting a critical need for multifaceted interventions.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Original Paper
Health (social science)
Food insecurity
Housing insecurity
Universities
Depression
New Mexico
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Food Supply
Cross-Sectional Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Humans
Female
College students
Students
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15733610 and 00945145
- Volume :
- 47
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Community Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e140ca71abafccd61e95380d638ab916