Dylan B Jackson1, Michael G Vaughn2. 1. Department of Criminal Justice, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX. Electronic address: dylan.jackson@utsa.edu. 2. College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St Louis, MO.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a history of disruptive life events (ie, school suspension or expulsion, job termination, hospitalization for mental health, and/or criminal justice involvement) among parents is positively associated with household food insecurity. DESIGN: Structured interviews and self-report surveys. SETTING: Households across all 50 states in the US. PARTICIPANTS: Subsample of 6,270 households that participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort with valid maternal and paternal data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Food insecurity was measured when children were aged 9 months (wave 1), 2 years (wave 2), and 4 years (wave 3). Parental history of disruptive life events was measured at wave 1. ANALYSIS: Logistic regression was used to carry out the analyses. RESULTS: Each examined disruptive life event was associated with a significant increase in the odds of persistent household food insecurity (P < .05). The probability of persistent household food insecurity was >6 times as large in households with 1 or both parents reporting the occurrence of each of the disruptive life events, relative to households with none of these parental risk factors. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Practitioners may want to consider parental history of various disruptive life events in their assessment of familial risk of household food insecurity. Future policy efforts might include a cost-benefit estimate analysis of intervening earlier in the food insecurity-disruptive life events nexus to advocate for savings to the taxpayer for prevention services. Moreover, future research could evaluate these practice and policy-driven efforts using quasi-experimental designs.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a history of disruptive life events (ie, school suspension or expulsion, job termination, hospitalization for mental health, and/or criminal justice involvement) among parents is positively associated with household food insecurity. DESIGN: Structured interviews and self-report surveys. SETTING: Households across all 50 states in the US. PARTICIPANTS: Subsample of 6,270 households that participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort with valid maternal and paternal data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Food insecurity was measured when children were aged 9 months (wave 1), 2 years (wave 2), and 4 years (wave 3). Parental history of disruptive life events was measured at wave 1. ANALYSIS: Logistic regression was used to carry out the analyses. RESULTS: Each examined disruptive life event was associated with a significant increase in the odds of persistent household food insecurity (P < .05). The probability of persistent household food insecurity was >6 times as large in households with 1 or both parents reporting the occurrence of each of the disruptive life events, relative to households with none of these parental risk factors. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Practitioners may want to consider parental history of various disruptive life events in their assessment of familial risk of household food insecurity. Future policy efforts might include a cost-benefit estimate analysis of intervening earlier in the food insecurity-disruptive life events nexus to advocate for savings to the taxpayer for prevention services. Moreover, future research could evaluate these practice and policy-driven efforts using quasi-experimental designs.