` Impact of Local Economic Conditions in Sleep Habits: Understanding of the Pathways linking Local Economic Conditions to Food Insecurity and Sleep Habits Oluwaseun L Olanipekun Advisor: Dr. Rajan Lamichhane Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University-Kingsville Abstract Structure Equation Modelling (SEM) is one of the least used techniques in Statistics but it is widely used in social and behavior sciences, business, education, and other fields. Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) was implemented to understand and validate the pathways between food insecurity and sleep habits. Food insecurity and sleep habits are directly affected by household income. Low income populations are vulnerable to both food insecurity and inadequate sleep. US job market and economic conditions had undergone significant changes during recession period ( ), resulting in significant change in food security status and sleep habits. We focus in understanding the three way relationship between local economic conditions, food insecurity, and sleep habits. Other statistical analyses such as simple linear regression, multivariate regression, and logistic regression were implemented by incorporating the complex survey design in order to generalize the result. We investigated the relationship between food security status and sleep duration/sleep considering the indirect effect of stress and compare the relative change due to economic conditions. Factors such as physical activity, body mass index (BMI), smoking behavior, socio economic status (SES), diet, and other demographic variables such as age, sex, and educational background were also considered in the analyses.. Key words: Food Insecurity, sleep habits, local economic condition, Logistic regression model, SEM, NHANES. Background Local economic conditions such as state and county unemployment rate have significant impact on food security status of a household. County level unemployment has more severe impact on food security. There is negative association between county unemployment rates and household food insecurity (Zhang and Lamichhane, 2014). Food insecurity is associated with poor sleep outcomes among US adults (Ming et. al, 2015; Gunderson, 2015). Household food insecurity has been associated with caregiver depression and anxiety (Whitaker, et al., 2006). Prevalence of mental distress is significantly greater among those reporting food insecurity (Liu et. al, 2014). Bi-directional relationship between chronic stress and sleep problems. Research Objectives Identify the relationship between stress (depression) and sleep behavior. To understand the pathways linking food insecurity to sleep behavior through depression among young US adults. To understand the local economic conditions differences in the overall pathway linking food insecurity to sleep behavior through depression. Identify a different pathway linking SES to sleep behavior through food insecurity. Methods Publicly available data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS), and Area Resource File (ARF) were merged together to create a metadata. We considered the data between 2005 to Simple linear regression, Logistic Regression, and Multinomial Regression to identify the relationship between variables Age, Sex, Ethnicity, and Marital Status are exogenous variables Food insecurity is endogenous which is allowed to predict major depression disorder (MDD) We fit Structural Equation Model (SEM) to determine most likely pathways explaining food insecurity in sleep habits through depression and life style factors (physical activity, diet, smoking habit) Software:SAS CALIS procedure, LISREL. Fig.1. Conceptual framework: pathways between food insecurity, SES, depression, and sleep habits. Results The association between food insecurity and sleep behavior through depression and other life activities is validated using different pathways. Another pathway between SES and sleep behavior through food insecurity has been identified. Some References Conclusion Results Global Goodness of SEM fit, χ 2 =3.86, d.f. =1, p-value=0.080, AGFI=0.98, RMSE= Higher local unemployment, higher depression, poor diet, less physical activities, and more smoking are one mechanism by which higher food insecurity is associated with poor sleep habits (less than 7 hours). Zhang, Q. and Lamichhane, R., "Labor market conditions and food security status of emergency food assistance program clients in recession," N A J Clin Med., vol. 7, no. 2, pp , Craig Gundersen, Food Insecurity and Poor Sleep: Another Consequence of Food Insecurity in the United States, J. Nutr : ; first published online January 7, 2015.doi: /jn DingM, KeileyMK, Garza KB, Duffy PA, Zizza CA. Food insecurity is associated with poor sleep outcomes among US Adults. J Nutr 2015; 145:615–21. Liu Y, Njai RS, Greenlund KJ, Chapman DP, Croft JB. Relationships Between Housing and Food Insecurity, Frequent Mental Distress, and Insufficient Sleep Among Adults in 12 US States, Prev Chronic Dis 2014;11: DOI: Acknowledgement URA, TAMUK for research support. Major depression disorder significantly decreases the sleep duration. SES also affects the sleep duration through different pathways. Fig.2. Results showing pathway coefficients for different associations. All significant coefficients are reported with solid lines. Dashed lines are not significant. Future Research Stratification of the pathway between food insecurity and sleep behavior by gender, ethnicity. Understanding the relative change in the food insecurity- sleep behavior pathway when local economic conditions (both county and state unemployment rate) changes..