Table 3.

Association between food insecurity (predictor variable) and problematic alcohol behaviors (outcome variables) in young adults aged 24–32 years, adjusted for demographic variables and health behaviors

	Food insecurity (predictor)
Outcomes	Adjusted odds ratioa (95% CI)	p
Alcohol use disorder, DSM 5
Mild threshold (≥2 criteria)	1.15 (0.97 – 1.36)	0.105
Moderate threshold (≥4 criteria)	1.34 (1.13 – 1.58)	0.001
Severe threshold (≥6 criteria)	1.67 (1.34 – 2.07)	<0.001
Problematic pattern of alcohol use, DSM 5 criteria
Drink more or longer than intended	1.26 (1.07 – 1.49)	0.006
Try to quit alcohol	1.27 (1.10 – 1.47)	0.002
Spent a lot of time drinking, planning how you would get alcohol, or recovering from a hangover	1.19 (1.00 – 1.42)	0.052
Drinking interfered with responsibilities at work or school	1.24 (1.01 – 1.53)	0.037
Problems with family, friends, or people at work or school because of drinking	1.46 (1.21 – 1.76)	<0.001
Cut down on activities and socialization that interfere with alcohol use	1.61 (1.24 – 2.08)	<0.001
Hurt or risky behaviors while under the influence of alcohol	1.32 (1.11 – 1.57)	0.002
Continued to use alcohol despite emotional or physical health problems	1.79 (1.40 – 2.31)	<0.001
Drink more than you used to in order to get the effect you wanted	1.13 (0.91 – 1.41)	0.261
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms	1.38 (0.95 – 2.02)	0.095
	Adjusted IRRa (95% CI)	p
Number (count) of problematic drinking behaviors	1.23 (1.11 – 1.37)	<0.001

Bold indicates p<0.05. IRR = incidence rate ratio from negative binomial regression

^aAdjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, receipt of public assistance, household size, and smoking