Parenting Stress in Households Experiencing Food Insecurity: Mental Health as a Mediator?

Parents in households experiencing mild food insecurity had parenting stress scores that were 0.23 standard deviations higher than parents in food secure households. These parents were also 1.23% points (161.84%) more likely to report handling the demands of parenting poorly compared to parents in food secure households. The association between parenting stress and food insecurity increased in magnitude with more severe household food insecurity; parents in households experiencing moderate-to-severe food insecurity had parenting stress scores that were 0.46 standard deviations higher than parents in food secure households, and these parents were 4.3% points (565.79%) more likely to report handling the demands of parenting poorly compared to parents in food secure households. Differences in child and parent mental health explained only some of the identified disparities in parenting stress.