Food Insecurity, Stigma, and Mental Health Among College Students

Background and Purpose: Food insecurity has become a widespread problem in colleges across the United States. In response, many colleges have implemented food pantries to support students in need. However, these resources often remain underutilized, largely due to stigma. Previous studies have found that the stigma of using community food assistance programs is associated with negative mental health outcomes, but there is limited research focused on the intertwined nature of food insecurity, stigma, and mental health in a college setting. Food insecurity, on its own, has adverse effects on college students’ mental health, and understanding how stigma works in tandem with food insecurity is imperative to proactively addressing these issues. This study aims to examine the relationships of mental health with food insecurity and stigma of food pantry use among college students.

Methods: We analyzed data from junior and sophomore students in Spring 2024 (N=381, average age=21) from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study at a public urban university. The dependent variables included two mental health symptoms, depression and anxiety. We used a subset of 5-point items from the Symptom Checklist-90 and calculated total scores for depression (Mean=10.41, SD=4.02, α ≥ .8) and anxiety (Mean=8.02, SD=3.57, α ≥ .8). The independent variables were food insecurity and stigma. Food insecurity was defined as responding “often” or “sometimes true” in the past 12 months to either question: (1) “I worried whether my food would run out before I got money to buy more.” and (2) “The food I bought just didn't last, and I didn't have money to get more”. Stigma measured social stigma of food pantry use with the statement: “If I used a food pantry on campus, I would fear losing friends and facing rejection” (1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree). We conducted multiple regression analyses with two models: Model 1 predicting depression and Model 2 predicting anxiety. Both models controlled for socio-demographic characteristics, food assistance use, sense of belonging to school, college completion expectations, and past-year mental health and stressful life events.

Results: The sample was diverse, with over 40% identifying as racial and ethnic minorities and 48% as sexual minorities. More than 40% of students experienced food insecurity. In Model 1, depression was significantly associated with food insecurity (b= .96, p= .01) and stigma (b= .50, p= .01). Similarly, in Model 2, anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with food insecurity (b= .69, p< .05) and stigma (b= .52,p= .002). Both models explained over 40% of the variance in depression or anxiety (R²= .43).

Discussion and Implications: Our findings highlight that food insecurity is not only a financial hardship but also a psychosocial stressor that exacerbates mental health challenges. Additionally, the study underscores the role of stigma, suggesting that beyond economic barriers, social perceptions and fears of judgment may further deter students from seeking food assistance, potentially deepening food insecurity and its psychological toll. We will discuss inclusive and supportive programs and policy strategies.