The Effect of Acute and Chronic Scarcity on Acute Stress: A Dyadic Developmental Examination.

BACKGROUND Food insecurity, obesity, and psychological stress are interrelated constructs which are thought to be connected through increased energy intake, but the underlying mechanisms for these relationships remain unclear. The current study used experimental methods to investigate how financial losses may influence acute stress in the context of food insecurity for both parents and offspring. This study also sought to examine the effect of acute stress related to financial losses on the reinforcing value of food (RRVfood) and delay discounting (DD). METHODS One hundred and six families stratified by both offspring age (53 children aged 7-10, 53 adolescents aged 15-17) and household financial resources, visited our laboratory for three separate appointments. Each appointment included the experimental manipulation of financial gains and losses, saliva samples for cortisol assay, continuous heart rate monitoring, self-rated tension, and computer-based DD and RRVfood tasks. Participants also completed surveys to report perceived life stress level and food insecurity status. RESULTS Among all participants, financial losses were related to decreased heart rates and increased self-rated tension. Among parents reporting food insecurity, acute financial losses resulted in an increase in cortisol levels. Changes in cortisol, heart rate, and tension were not related to RRVfood or DD. CONCLUSION Food insecure parents are sensitive to financial losses and respond with an increase in cortisol. However, we found no evidence for a relationship between cortisol and RRVfood or DD. This sensitivity to financial losses did not extend to children or adolescents.

• Publication year

  2021

• Venue

  Physiology and Behavior

• Publication date

  2021-12-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113684PMID 34929257PMCID PMC8821326
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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