​The study assesses the relationship between food insecurity with and without hunger to that of both moderate psychological distress (MPD) and serious psychological distress (SPD) among this Black/African-Americans using 2009 and 2011/2012 adult public-use data from African-American respondents of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). 

The authors found prevalence of mild to MPD was higher among those reporting food insecurity while SPD was highest for those with food insecurity and hunger. Results of multinomial logistic regression analysis demonstrate that while MPD was significantly associated with food insecurity, Black/African-Americans with food insecurity and hunger displayed over sixfold odds of higher serious psychological distress, as compared to those living at or above 200 percent federal poverty level.

• Nickolas L. Allen
• Benjamin J. Becerra
• Monideepa B. Becerra