Ignite Creation Date:
2024-05-06 @ 8:33 AM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 12:02 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT02767141
Status:
COMPLETED
Last Update Posted:
2016-05-10
First Post:
2016-04-11
Brief Title:
Coping Strategies Used by Food Insecure Households
Sponsor:
RTI International
Organization:
RTI International
Study Overview
Official Title:
Understanding the Interdependencies Among Three Types of Coping Strategies Used by Very Low Food Security Households With Children
Status:
COMPLETED
Status Verified Date:
2016-05
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
False
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Children without consistent access to sufficient and nutritious food show sustained disadvantages To improve food security households utilize three types of coping strategies- participating in governmental feeding and financial assistance programs obtaining food from nongovernment providers and using individually developed strategies To understand the interdependencies among strategies and decision-making processes used to select them the investigators conducted a two-phased mixed-methods study using a socio-ecological theoretical framework First employing a cross sectional observational design the investigators administered in-person surveys to 320 adults in very low food secure VLFS households with children Over 1 year later the investigators repeated select questions and conducted in depth interviews with a cohort n28 of participants Descriptive statistics defined magnitude of associations among strategies Following bivariate analysis the investigators assessed interdependencies and factors affecting relationships with log-linear models The investigators analyzed interviews using an hierarchically ordered analytical coding structure With Qualitative Comparative Analysis QCA the investigators developed typologies of VLFS and created models treating food security as an outcome The association of soup kitchen use and nutritionally risky behavior was altered by Supplemental Security Income SSI or Social Security Disability Insurance SSDI Food safety-related risky behavior level related to intensity of food pantry use by participation in school food programs Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP did not affect the association between soup kitchen use and risky food safety behaviors Key interview constructs included becoming and being short of food coping strategies decisions used to inform choice of strategies and managing a devalued social status Improved income stability was a necessary condition for improving food security
Detailed Description:
Food insecurity is a serious issue facing households in the United States In 2012 the time this study was begun the US Department of Agriculture reported that almost 15 of US households and one in five households with children were considered to be food insecure Over one third of these experienced very low food security VLFS with multiple indicators of disrupted eating patterns due to inadequate resources These statistics are of particular concern because children without consistent access to sufficient and nutritious food show sustained disadvantages including effects on cognition academic performance long-term nutritional status and psychosocial development To improve their food security households utilize three types of coping strategies- 1 participating in federal feeding and financial assistance programs safety net 2 obtaining food from nongovernment Emergency Food Providers EFPs and 3 using individually developed coping strategies The objectives of this study related to developing a better understanding of the coping strategies that VLFS households with children use to ensure that their households have sufficient food Specifically the study addressed two main research questions What are the interdependencies among three types of coping strategies participating in federal feeding and financial assistance programs safety net obtaining food from EFPs and using individually developed coping strategies What decision-making processes do people in VLFS households with children use when selecting coping strategies to ensure that their households have sufficient food The investigators conducted a two-phased mixed-methods study of coping strategies used by VLFS households with children 18 years in North Carolina NC using a socio-ecological theoretical framework to guide their hypotheses methods and analyses For phase I the investigators employed a cross sectional observational design The investigators used a two-stage sample to recruit 320 clients of service providers who offer assistance to people with limited resources within eight NC counties with the highest food insecurity rates Trained interviewers administered in-person a survey interview asking clients socio-demographic questions and about their use of three categories of coping strategies Using a longitudinal design more than a year after Phase I in Phase II the investigators completed in depth interviews with a cohort n28 of Phase I participants selected using maximum variation sampling During the largely unscripted interviews participants were asked a select number of close ended questions from Phase I including the 18 item food security module to assess changes over the past year and permit comparisons between times one and two To address the first question two by two and multi-dimensional contingency tables were constructed to analyze the interdependencies among the three types of coping strategy outcomes Descriptive statistics odds ratios counts and percentages were performed to define the magnitude of the association among coping strategies Fishers exact tests and Chi-square statistics were then employed to assess the statistical significance of the interdependency among the outcomes To further determine the interdependencies among the three coping strategies and to assess how individual and household-level factors affect those interdependencies the investigators employed log-linear models To address the second research question the investigators formulated a hierarchically ordered analytical coding structure that reflected key decision-making constructs eg knowledge of coping strategies perception of risk of accessibility and availability of coping strategies barriers to participation in safety net programs and examined the results in terms of the key constructs Lastly responses to both sets of questions were jointly reviewed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis QCA a mixed-methods analysis technique The investigators implemented a conventional crisp set for 1 developing typologies of households and individuals experiencing very low food insecurity and 2 exploring pathways to improving food security status among participants in the follow-up interviews All procedures involving human participants was reviewed and approved by RTI Internationals Institutional Review Board IRB
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None