(PS13-A18) Food Insecurity, Major Experiences of Discrimination, and Psychosocial Distress During Pregnancy

Background: Pregnancy is a critical period for promoting psychosocial wellbeing to improve intergenerational health. Given significant sociodemographic inequities in pregnancy-related outcomes, it is crucial that research identify malleable factors underlying existing inequities. In non-pregnant samples, mounting evidence suggests that both food insecurity and experiences of discrimination predict eating pathology (e.g., loss of control over eating), stress, and depressive symptoms. Research examining relationships among these factors in pregnancy is limited. Thus, we aimed to examine relationships among food insecurity, major experiences of discrimination, loss of control over eating, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress in a sample of pregnant individuals.

Methods: Pregnant individuals (N = 63; M age=31.16±4.47 years; M gestational age=13.35±2.79 weeks; 19% Black-identifying; median yearly household income: $70-80k) completed assessments of food insecurity (USDA Household Food Security Survey Module), discrimination (Major Experiences of Discrimination Scale), loss of control over eating (Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire), depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale).

Results: In our sample, 25% of participants reported food insecurity, and 50% reported at least one major experience of discrimination in their lifetime. Number of lifetime major experiences of discrimination was higher among participants with food insecurity (M=1.69±1.35) than with food security (M=0.70±1.09), t(60)=2.94, p=.005. Depressive symptoms were higher in participants with food insecurity (M=17.31±7.41) than with food security (M=12.17±6.28), t(60)=7.30, p=.009, but food security status was not significantly related to any other psychosocial variable. Greater number of major experiences of discrimination predicted decreased likelihood of loss of control over eating, B=-.53, SE+.26, p=.04. Major experiences of discrimination were not significantly related to other psychosocial variables.

 


Conclusions: Pregnant individuals with food insecurity reported higher levels of discrimination, and food insecurity and experiences of discrimination differentially predicted psychosocial outcomes. Specifically, food insecurity was related to greater depressive symptoms, as expected, but not to other psychosocial variables. Counter to our hypothesis, more experiences of discrimination were related to lower likelihood of experiencing loss of control eating. Results warrant future investigation, including across the course of pregnancy given that the factors of interest may change during this period.