Emerging studies have suggested a possible link between food hardship and depression; however, empirical knowledge is limited. In South Korea, more public discussion has been conducted regarding the prevalence and consequences of food insecurity on mental health. To begin to address the knowledge gap, we applied family stress theory and investigated the association of food insecurity with depression in South Korea. We employed observational data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study, the first data to draw on food insecurity information from a nationally representative sample in Korea. Our sample consisted of 744 non-elderly household heads. The independent variable “food insecurity” was measured using a six-item scale adapted from the United States Department of Agriculture Food Security Scale. The dependent variable “depression” was measured using 11 questions from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale adapted for Koreans. After controlling for income, material hardship, and other factors, our ordinary least squares regression findings show that food insecurity significantly predicts depression. Our findings are consistent whether food insecurity is measured on a continuum or in categorical groups. More research and empirical evidence should be shared to provide legitimate grounds for policy interventions that address and prevent food insecurity and mental health issues.

中文翻译：

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食物不安全与韩国的抑郁症状有关吗？

新出现的研究表明食物困难和抑郁之间可能存在联系；然而，经验知识是有限的。在韩国，就粮食不安全对心理健康的普遍性和后果进行了更多的公开讨论。为了开始解决知识差距，我们应用了家庭压力理论并调查了韩国食品不安全与抑郁症的关联。我们采用了来自韩国福利小组研究的观察数据，这是从韩国具有全国代表性的样本中提取粮食不安全信息的第一个数据。我们的样本包括 744 名非老年户主。自变量“粮食不安全”是使用改编自美国农业部粮食安全量表的六项量表来衡量的。因变量“抑郁”是使用适用于韩国人的流行病学研究中心抑郁量表中的 11 个问题来衡量的。在控制收入、物质困难和其他因素后，我们的普通最小二乘回归结果表明粮食不安全显着预测抑郁症。我们的研究结果是一致的，无论是按连续体还是按类别来衡量粮食不安全状况。应该分享更多的研究和经验证据，为解决和预防粮食不安全和心理健康问题的政策干预提供合法依据。我们的普通最小二乘回归结果表明，粮食不安全可显着预测抑郁症。我们的研究结果是一致的，无论是按连续体还是按类别来衡量粮食不安全状况。应该分享更多的研究和经验证据，为解决和预防粮食不安全和心理健康问题的政策干预提供合法依据。我们的普通最小二乘回归结果表明，粮食不安全可显着预测抑郁症。我们的研究结果是一致的，无论是按连续体还是按类别来衡量粮食不安全状况。应该分享更多的研究和经验证据，为解决和预防粮食不安全和心理健康问题的政策干预提供合法依据。