Food Insecurity and Academic Self-Efficacy: Military Students and Student Veterans
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32674/hzftvf05Keywords:
military students, student veterans, food insecurity, underserved populations, academic self-efficacyAbstract
Food insecurity (FI) affects households worldwide and is also seen on college and university campuses with adverse effects on student success. We examine FI and academic self-efficacy levels of military students and student veterans enrolled in higher education in the United States which has not been extensively studied regarding FI. Military students and student veterans may have access to G.I. Bill funds and may not be perceived as requiring additional assistance. The results reveal that military students and student veterans have some level of FI. The qualitative analysis yielded five themes that center on FI, economic vulnerability, inequities in the veteran community, reintegration challenges, and support system gaps.
References
Ackerman, R., DiRamio, D., & Mitchell, R. L. G. (2009). Transitions: Combat veterans as college students. New Directions for Student Services, 2009(126), 5-14. http://doi.org/101022.ss.311
Anderson, M., Goodman, J., & Schlossberg, N. (2011). Counseling adults in transition: Linking Schlossberg’s theory with practice in a diverse world (4th ed.). Springer.
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117-149.
Barry, A. E., Whiteman, S. D., & Wadsworth, S. M. (2014). Student service members/veterans in higher education: A systematic review. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 51(1), 30-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jsarp-2014-0003
Bauman, M. (2013). From the box to the pasture: Student-veterans returning to campus. College Student Affairs Journal, 31(1), 41-53.
Becerra, M. B., Hassija, C. M., & Becerra, B. J. (2016). Food insecurity is associated with unhealthy dietary practices among US veterans in California. Public Health Nutrition, 20(14), 2569-2576. doi:10.1017/S136898001600214
Bennett, J. (2019). Veteran households in US are economically better off than those of non-veterans. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/09/veteran-households-in-u-s-are-economically-better-off-than-those-of-non-veterans/
Bickel, G., Nord, M. Price, C., Hamilton, W., & Cook, J. (2000). Guide to measuring household food security. U. S. Department of Agriculture. https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/FSGuide.pdf
Bong, M. (2001). Role of self-efficacy and task-value in predicting college students’ course performance and future enrollment intentions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26(4), 553-570.
Bratanova, B., Loughnan, S., Klein, O., Claasen, A., & Wood, R. (2016). Poverty, inequality, and increased consumption of high calorie food: Experimental evidence for a causal link. Appetite, 100, 162-171. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.01.028
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2016). (Mis)conceptualizing themes, thematic analysis, and other problems with Fugard and Potts’ (2015) sample-size tool for thematic analysis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19, 739-743.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). One size fits all? What counts as quality practice in (reflexive) thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 18, 328-352.
Brawner, C. E., Main, J., Mobley, C., Camacho, M. M., & Lord, S. M. (2016). Exploring the intersection of veteran status, age, and engineering study. Paper presented at the 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Erie, PA, pp. 1-5. doi://10.1109/FIE.2016/7757550
Broton, K. M., & Goldrick-Rab, S. (2018). Going without: An exploration of food and housing insecurity among undergraduates. Educational Researcher, 47(2), 121-133.
Brown, S. D., Lent, R. W., & Larkin, K. C. (1989). Self-efficacy as a moderator of scholastic aptitude: Academic performance relationships. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 35(1), 64-75.
Bruening, M. Brennhoffer, S., van Woerden, I., Todd., M., & Laska, M. (2016). Factors related to the high rates of food insecurity among diverse, urban college freshmen. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(9), 1450-1457.
Bullington, K. E., Tomovic, C., Jovanovic, V. M., Dean, A. W., & Landaeta, R. (2020). NSF S-STEM project update: A pathway to completion for pursuing engineering and engineering technology degrees. In 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access. https://peer.asee.org/nsf-s-stem-project-update-a-pathway-to-completion-for-pursuing-engineering-and-engineering-technology-degrees
Bullington, K. E., Dean, A. W., Jovanovic, V., Tomovic, C., & Landaeta, R. (2021). Facilitating veteran and adult students’ learning and retention in engineering: A model of an evidence-based practice. 2020 Annual Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD) Conference. January 24-27, 2021, Crystal City, VA.
Byrne, D. (2021). A worked example of Braun and Clark’s approach to reflexive thematic analysis. Quality and Quantity, 56, 1391-1412.
Cate, C. A., Lyon, J. S., Schmeling, J., & Bogue, B. Y. (2017). National Veteran Education Success Tracker (NVEST) project report. Student Veterans of America. https://nvest.studentveterans.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NVEST-Report_FINAL.pdf
Cohen, A. J., Rudolph, J. L., Thomas, K. S., Archambault, E., Bowman, M. M., Going, C., Heisler, M., O’Toole, T. P., & Dosa, D. M. (2020). Food insecurity among veterans: Resources to screen and intervene. Federal Practitioner, 37(1), 16-23.
Cohen, A. J., Dosa, D. M., Rudolph, J. L., Halladay, C. W., Heisler, M., & Thomas, K. S. (2022). Risk factors for veteran food insecurity: Findings from a national U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs food insecurity screener. Public Health Nutrition, 25(4), 819-828. doi: 10.1017/S1368980021004584
Coleman-Jensen, A., & Nord, M. (2013). Food insecurity among households with working-age adults with disabilities, ERR-1414. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
Coleman-Jensen, A., Nord. M., & Singh, A. (2013). Household food insecurity in the United States in 2012. Economic Research Report No. ERR-155). U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbit, M., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2019). Household food security in the United States in 2018. Economic Research Report No. ERR-270. U. S. Department of Agriculture.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. L. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage.
Davitt, E. D., Heer, M. M., Winham, D. M., Knoblauch, S. T., & Shelley, M. C. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 on university student food security. Nutrients, 13. https://doi.org/10/3390/nu13061932
Dials-Corujo, S. (2019). Connecting concepts of self-efficacy, engaged scholarship, and civic responsibility among student-veterans. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.) Civic Engagement and Politics (pp. 320-333). IGI Global.
DiRamio, D., & Jarvis, K. (2011). Veterans in higher education: When Johnny and Jane came marching to campus. Wiley/Jossey-Bass.
Dong, D. Stewart, H., & Carlson, A. C. (2019). An examination of veterans’ diet quality, ERR-271, US Department of Agriculture: Economic Research Service.
Dubick, J., Mathews, B., & Cady, C. (2016). Hunger on campus: The challenge of food insecurity for college students. https://studentsagainsthunger.org/hunger-on-campus/
Durdella, N., & Kim, Y. K. (2012). Understanding patterns of college outcomes among student veterans. Journal of Studies in Education, 2(2), 109-129.
Eakman, A. M., Kinney, A. R., Schieri, M. L., & Henry, K. L. (2019). Academic performance in student service members/veterans: Effects of instructor autonomy support, academic self-efficacy, and academic problems. Educational Psychology, 39(8).
Emmer, K. M. (2013). Battlefields and bookbags: Campus ecology’s effect on student veterans. Journal of Student Affairs, XXIII, 43-49.
Farahbakhsh, J., Hanbazaza, M., Ball, G. D. C., Farmer, A. P., Maximova, K., & Willows, N. D. (2017). Food insecure student clients of a university-based food bank have compromised health, dietary intake and academic quality. Nutrition & Dietetics, 74(1), 67-73.
Freudenberg, N., Goldrick-Rab, S., & Poppendieck, J. (2019). College students and SNAP: The new face of food insecurity in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 109(12), pp. 1652-1658.
Fry, R., & Cilluffo, A. (2019). A rising share of undergraduates are from poor families, especially at less selective colleges. Pew Research Center.
Godsell, S., Randle, M., Bateson, M, & Nettle, D. (2019). Food insecurity moderates the acute effect of subjective socioeconomic status on food consumption. Frontiers in Psychology, 14 August 2019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01886
Goldrick-Rab, S., Cady, C., & Coca, V. (2018). Campus food pantries: Insights from a national survey. The Hope Center. https://cufba.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2018-CUFBA-Report-web-2.pdf
Gore, P. A., Lauwerke, W. C., & Turley, S. E. (2005). A psychometric study of the college self-efficacy inventory. Journal of College Student Retention, 73-4), 227-244.
Griffin, K. A., & Gilbert, C. K. (2015). Better transitions for troops: An application of Schlossberg’s transition framework to analyses of barriers and institutional support structure for student veterans. Journal of Higher Education, 86(1), 71-97.
Hagedorn, R. L., McArthur, L. H., Hood, L. B., Berner, M., Anderson Steeves, E. T., Connell, C. L., Wall-Bassett, E., Spence, M., Babatunde, O. T., Kelly, E. B., Waity, J. F., Lillis, J. P., & Olfert, M. D. (2019). Expenditure, coping, and academic behaviors among food-insecure college students at 10 higher education institutes in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions. Current Developments in Nutrition, 3(6).
Jenner, B. M. (2017). Student veterans and the transition to higher education: Integrating existing literatures. Journal of Veterans Studies, 2(2), 26-44.
Jenner, B. M. (2019). Student veterans in transition: The impact of peer community. Journal of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 31(1), 69-83.
Kamdar, N., True, G., Lorenz, L. Loeb, A., & Hernandez, D. C. (2020). Getting food to the table: Challenges, strategies, sand compromised experienced by low-income veterans raising children. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 17(1), 32-52.
Kenner, C. & Weinerman, J. (2011). Adult learning theory: Applications to non-traditional college students. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 41(2), 87-96.
Kim, Y., Murphy, J., Craft, K., Waters, L., & Gooden, B. I. (2022). “It’s just a constant concern in the back of my mind”: Lived experiences of college food insecurity. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org.10.1080/07448481.2022.2064714
Kimball, S., Hurwitz, J., Terry, C., & Wirth, M. (2019). Military family support programing: Survey 2019 results. https://militaryfamilyadvisorynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/MFAN2019SurveyResults.pdf
LeMire, S., Graves, S. J., Buckner, S., Freeman, D. D. (2020). Basic training: A library orientation designed for student veterans. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(4), 1-7.
Lindley, L. D. & Borgen, F. H., (2002). Generalized self-efficacy, Holland theme self-efficacy, and academic performance. Journal of Career Assessment, 10(3), 293-298.
Lutz, J., & Welsh, C. (2022). Solving food insecurity among U.S. veterans and military families. Center for Strategic & International Studies. https://www.csis.org/analysis/solving-food-insecurity-among-us-veterans-and-military-families
Ma, J., & Pender, M. (2022). Trends in college pricing and student aid, 2022. The College Board.
Maguire, J. S. (2016). Introduction: Looking at food practices and taste across the class divide. Food, Culture & Society, 19(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2016.1144995
Maroto, M. E., Snelling, A., & Linck, H. (2015). Food insecurity among community college students: Prevalence and association with grade point average. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(6), 515-526.
Martinez, S. M., Frongillo, E. A., Leung, C., & Ritchie, L. (2018). No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance in California’s public university system. Journal of Health Psychology, 25(12), 1930-1939.
McBain, L. (2014, November). “So did you kill anybody while you were in the military?” Higher education and othering the student veteran. Paper session presented at the meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Washington, DC.
Messerschmitt-Coen, S. (2019). Considerations for counseling student veterans. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 2019, 1-20.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Meza, A., Altman, E. Martinez, S., & Leung, C. W. (2019). “It’s a feeling that one is not worth food”: A qualitative study exploring the psychosocial experience and academic consequences of food insecurity among college students. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 119(10), 1713-1721.
Military Family Advisory Network. (2021). Food insecurity among military and veteran families during COVID-19. https://militaryfamilyadvisorynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/MFAN_1-Million-Meals_COVID-survey-results_FINAL.pdf
Miller, D. P., Larson, M. J., Byrne, T. & DeVoe, E. (2015). Food insecurity in veteran households: Findings from nationally representative data. Public Health Nutrition, 19(10), 1731-1740. doi:10.1017/S136898001500306
Morris, P. A., Albanesi, H. P., & Cassidy, S. (2019). Student veterans’ perceptions of barriers, support, and environment at a high-density veteran enrollment campus. Journal of Veterans Studies, 4(2), 180-202.
Morrissey, J. (2019). Financial socialization and its effects on food insecurity among college students. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/poliscitheses/50/
Multon, K. D., Brown, S. D., & Lent, R. W. (1991). Relation of self-efficacy beliefs to academic outcomes: A meta-analysis investigation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 38(1), 30-38.
Nagata, J. M., Palar, K., Gooding, H. C., Garber, A. K., Bibbins-Domingo, K., & Weiser, S. D. (2019). Food insecurity and chronic disease in US young adults: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34, 2756-2762. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05317-8
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. P. L. 117-21, S. 1605. (2021)
Nickolaus, C. J., An, R., Ellison, B., & Nickols-Richardson, S. M. (2020). Food insecurity among college students in the United States: A scoping review. Advances in Nutrition, 11(2), 327-348. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz111
Nickolaus, C. J., Ellison, B., & Nickols-Richardson, S. M. (2019). Are estimates of food insecurity among college students accurate? Comparison of assessment protocols. PLoS One, 14(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journalpone.0215161
Novoselich, B. J., Bruhl, J. C., Scheidt, M., Willis, C. & Sheppard. M. S. (2019). ASEE support to student veterans: Results of a 2018 ASEE Leadership Roundtable. Paper presented at the 2019 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Tampa, FL. https://peer.asee.org/32107
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Sage.
Phillips, E., McDaniel, A., & Croft, A. (2018). Food insecurity and academic disruption among college students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 55(4), 353-372.
Phojanakong, P., Weida, E. B., Grimaldi, G., Lê-Scherban, F., & Chilton, M. (2019). Experiences of racial and ethnic discrimination are associated with food insecurity and poor health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(22).
Pooler, J. A., Srinivasan, M., Miller, Z., & Mian, P. (2021). Prevalence and risk factors for food insecurity among low-income US military veterans. Public Health Reports, 136(5), 618-625.
Rabbitt, M. P., & Smith, M. D. (2021). Food insecurity among working-age veterans. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Economic Research Report No. 829. https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/311332/
Riggs, S. A., Carver, K. S. Rombero, D., Morrissette, S. B., Wilson, J., Campbell, R., & McGuffin, J. (2019). Attachment, communication, and relationship functioning among student veterans and nonveterans. Journal of College Counseling, 22(2), 110-124.
Schiavone, V., & Gentry, D. (2014). Veteran-students in transition at a midwestern university. Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 62(1), 29-38.
Semer, C. & Harmening, D. S. (2015). Exploring significant factors that impact the academic success of student veterans in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 15(7), 31-43.
Shirley, D. M., Metz, A. J., Hinkson, Jr., K. D., Drake-Brooks, M. M., Taylor, J. M., Artman, S. E., Burningham, C., & Bryan, C. J. (2022). Academic performance of college student servicemembers and veterans: The influence of emotion regulation, self-efficacy, and PTSD symptom severity. Journal of Veterans Studies, 8(1), 186-203. http://doi.org./10/21061/jvs.v8i1.314
Smith, C., Klosterbuer, A., & Levine, A. S. (2009). Military experience strongly influences post-service eating behavior and BMI status in American veterans. Science Direct, 52(2), 280-289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2008.10.003
Solberg, V. S., Gusavac, N., Hamann, T., Felch, J., Johnson, J., Lamboro, S., & Torres, J. (1998). The Adaptive Success Identity Plan (ASIP): A career intervention for college students. The Career Development Quarterly, 47, 48-95.
Solberg, V. S., & Villareal, P. (1997). Examination of self-efficacy, social support, and stress and predictors of psychological and physical distress among Hispanic college students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 19, 182-201.
Solberg, V. S., Villareal, P., Kennel, R., & Davis, B. (1993). Self-efficacy and Hispanic college students: Validation of the College Self-Efficacy Instrument. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 15(1), 80-95.
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. (2022). What matters most: Critical student issues impacting higher education experience, persistence and completion. https://www.schev.edu/home/showpublisheddocument/2597/638052194331361048
Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797-811.
Tine, M., & Gotlieb, R. (2013). Gender-, race-, and income-based stereotype threat: The effects of multiple stigmatized aspects of identity on math performance and working memory function. Social Psychology of Education, 16(3), 353-376.
USDA Economic Research Service. (2009). Access to affordable and nutritious food: Measuring and understanding food deserts and their consequences. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/42711/12716_ap036_1_.pdf?v=5839
USDA Economic Research Service. (2012). US household food security survey module: Three-stage design with screeners. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/8278/hh2012.doc
USDA Economic Research Service. (2022). Overview. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2015). Veteran poverty trends. https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/specialreports/veteran_poverty_trends.pdf
U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2022). Food insecurity: Better information could help eligible college students access Federal food assistance benefits. Author.
van Woerden, I., Hruschka, D., & Bruening, M. (2019). Food insecurity negatively impacts academic performance. Journal of Public Affairs, 19(3), e1864.
Wang, E. A., McGinnis, K. A., Goulet, J., Bryant, K., Gibert, C., Leaf, D. A., Mattocks, K., Fielin, L. E., Vogenthaler, N., Justice, A. C., Fielin, D. A. (2015). Food insecurity and health: Data from the Veterans Aging Cohort study. Public Health Reports, 130, 261-268.
Weaver, R. R., Vaughn, N. A., Hendricks, S. P., McPherson-Myers, P. E., Jia, Q., & Willis, S. L. (2019). University student food insecurity and academic performance. Journal of American College Health, 68(7), 727-733.
Weikel, B. (2019). Strengthening wellness for food insecure students: Altruism, spirituality, and academic performance. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) dissertation. Educational Foundations and Leadership, Old Dominion University. doi: 10.25777/bm7c-dq79. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_etds/221
Widome, R., Jensen, A. & Fu, S. S. (2015). Food insecurity among veterans of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Public Health Nutrition, 18(5), 844-49. doi:10.1017/S136898001400072X
Wilmoth, J. M., & London, A. S. (2020). A population-based perspective on health care for U.S. veterans. Public Policy & Aging Report, 30(1), 6-11.
Wolfson, J. A., Insorela, N., Cohen, A., & Leung, C. W. (2022). The effect of food insecurity during college on graduation and type of degree attained: Evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey. Public Health Nutrition, 25(2), 389-397.
Wood, J. L, & Harris, F. (2022). Differences in self-reported GPA for students experiencing insecurities. Community College Journal of Research and Practice,
