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Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence

Background: Hunger can influence healthy development of children and has been shown to be associated with other determinants of child health, such as violence within the family and maternal (mental) health problems. Whilst the majority of research has been conducted in high-income countries with vul...

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Autores principales: Jansen, Elena, Lachman, Jamie M., Heinrichs, Nina, Hutchings, Judy, Baban, Adriana, Foran, Heather M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7174726/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32351924
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00115
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author Jansen, Elena
Lachman, Jamie M.
Heinrichs, Nina
Hutchings, Judy
Baban, Adriana
Foran, Heather M.
author_facet Jansen, Elena
Lachman, Jamie M.
Heinrichs, Nina
Hutchings, Judy
Baban, Adriana
Foran, Heather M.
author_sort Jansen, Elena
collection PubMed
description Background: Hunger can influence healthy development of children and has been shown to be associated with other determinants of child health, such as violence within the family and maternal (mental) health problems. Whilst the majority of research has been conducted in high-income countries with vulnerable populations, less is known about the circumstances in low-and-middle-income countries. This study explored the experience of hunger in vulnerable families in three Southeastern European countries, and simultaneously examined relationships with four sets of risk factors—lack of financial, mental, familial, and social resources. Methods: Families (N = 140) were recruited for a parenting intervention targeting child behavioral problems. Baseline data was collected on hunger, socioeconomic characteristics, mental health and wellbeing, family violence (i.e., child maltreatment and intimate partner violence), and social and emotional support. Univariate and multivariable risk factors of hunger were examined cross-sectionally with regression models. Results: Overall, 31% of families experienced at least one form of hunger in the last month. Worse family functioning, current intimate partner violence, and more instances of child neglect showed univariate associations with family hunger. In hierarchical analysis, five risk factors remained significantly associated with the experience of hunger: lower adult educational, literacy level, emotional support, more children in the household and higher scores on parental depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusions: Hunger in Southeastern European families, among families with children showing elevated behavioral problems, was associated with more family violence, but specifically poorer mental health and less emotional support above and beyond socio-structural strains. Adapting parenting interventions to support the primary caregiver in getting more access to emotional support may potentially also change hunger and its association with health and violence. However, this hypothetical pathway of change needs explicit testing.
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spelling pubmed-71747262020-04-29 Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence Jansen, Elena Lachman, Jamie M. Heinrichs, Nina Hutchings, Judy Baban, Adriana Foran, Heather M. Front Public Health Public Health Background: Hunger can influence healthy development of children and has been shown to be associated with other determinants of child health, such as violence within the family and maternal (mental) health problems. Whilst the majority of research has been conducted in high-income countries with vulnerable populations, less is known about the circumstances in low-and-middle-income countries. This study explored the experience of hunger in vulnerable families in three Southeastern European countries, and simultaneously examined relationships with four sets of risk factors—lack of financial, mental, familial, and social resources. Methods: Families (N = 140) were recruited for a parenting intervention targeting child behavioral problems. Baseline data was collected on hunger, socioeconomic characteristics, mental health and wellbeing, family violence (i.e., child maltreatment and intimate partner violence), and social and emotional support. Univariate and multivariable risk factors of hunger were examined cross-sectionally with regression models. Results: Overall, 31% of families experienced at least one form of hunger in the last month. Worse family functioning, current intimate partner violence, and more instances of child neglect showed univariate associations with family hunger. In hierarchical analysis, five risk factors remained significantly associated with the experience of hunger: lower adult educational, literacy level, emotional support, more children in the household and higher scores on parental depression, anxiety, and stress. Conclusions: Hunger in Southeastern European families, among families with children showing elevated behavioral problems, was associated with more family violence, but specifically poorer mental health and less emotional support above and beyond socio-structural strains. Adapting parenting interventions to support the primary caregiver in getting more access to emotional support may potentially also change hunger and its association with health and violence. However, this hypothetical pathway of change needs explicit testing. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-04-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7174726/ /pubmed/32351924 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00115 Text en Copyright © 2020 Jansen, Lachman, Heinrichs, Hutchings, Baban and Foran. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Jansen, Elena
Lachman, Jamie M.
Heinrichs, Nina
Hutchings, Judy
Baban, Adriana
Foran, Heather M.
Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title_full Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title_fullStr Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title_full_unstemmed Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title_short Hunger in Vulnerable Families in Southeastern Europe: Associations With Mental Health and Violence
title_sort hunger in vulnerable families in southeastern europe: associations with mental health and violence
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7174726/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32351924
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00115
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