Social Support Modifies Bidirectional Linkages Between Food Insecurity and Prenatal Depressive Symptoms while Domestic Violence Alters the Unidirectional Impact of Food Insecurity on Prenatal Depressive Symptoms

To inform perinatal nutrition and mental health interventions, we used a cohort study to: 1) examine the directionality of relationships between maternal food insecurity (MFI) and prenatal depressive symptoms (PDS); and 2) see if social support (SS) or domestic violence (DV) modify this relationship. We enrolled 403 Ugandan pregnant women (33% HIV+ on antiretrovirals)) in mid-gestation and assessed them monthly through delivery for MFI (IFIAS) and the PDS (CES-D) using validated scales.