Food insecurity in New York City college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal analysis of predictors, correlates, and trajectories

OBJECTIVE: To examine predictors, correlates, and trajectories of food insecurity (FI) among students during COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS: Undergraduates. METHODS: Between 2020-2021, students completed quarterly (T1-T4) self-administered questionnaires. FI comprised food not lasting or not affording balanced meals. Trajectories were created using cumulative FI reports. RESULTS: Across time, FI varied (T1 = 21%, T2 = 25%, T3 = 17%, T4 = 19%). FI predictors included preexisting FI, need-based aid, low social support, alcohol use, COVID-19 care-seeking behaviors, violence experience, transgender/gender non-conforming [TGNC] identity, and unsafe home perceptions. FI trajectories spanned Never (69%), Rarely (12% FI once), Frequently (14% FI twice/thrice), and Persistently (5%). Along with low social support, Persistently FI students had high psychological distress, need-based aid, unsafe home perceptions, smoking/vaping, drug use, TGNC representation, violence experience, and COVID-19 care-seeking behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: FI was associated with sociodemographic, residential, interpersonal, psychosocial, behavioral, and healthcare-related factors. In routine campus operations and emergency situations, universities must develop multi-component interventions to address multi-factorial stressors.