The psychological toll of food insecurity

We investigate the relationship between food insecurity and psychological distress among a sample of poor households in Lebanon. We first document large unconditional differ-ences in various measures of psychological distress based on whether a respondent lives in a household experiencing acute food insecurity. Next we show that these differences persist even when accounting for heterogeneity by interview timing, geography, and other characteristics. Considering results across a variety of regression specifications, we find that experiencing acute food insecurity increases scores on a psychological distress index by at least 0.16 standard deviations. These results carry implications for the literature on the mental health consequences of food insecurity and poverty alleviation policy.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.