Inconclusive prospective associations between food insecurity, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms: a comment on Baek and Yoon (2026).

Authors

Kimmo Sorjonen, Bo Melin, Marika Melin

Published in

Frontiers in psychology. Volume 17. Pages 1866873. Epub Jul 31, 2026.

Abstract

Based on findings with the random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), Baek and Yoon concluded that food insecurity and poor psychological health exacerbate each other in a vicious cycle. However, the RI-CLPM is susceptible to spurious findings. Here, we analyzed data with alternative models and found divergent decreasing and increasing prospective effects between food insecurity and self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Hence, the findings by Baek and Yoon may have been spurious and their conclusions premature. It is important for researchers to bear in mind that correlations, including effects in the RI-CLPM, in observational (i.e., non-experimental) data may be spurious. We recommend researchers to fit alternative models to data and to base conclusions on a juxtaposition of findings.

PMID:
42602015
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Aug 2026.

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