{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T06:00:34Z","timestamp":1785477634228,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785456000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1866873","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T05:38:08Z","timestamp":1785476288000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Inconclusive prospective associations between food insecurity, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms: a comment on Baek and Yoon (2026)"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Kimmo","family":"Sorjonen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet","place":["Stockholm, Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Melin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet","place":["Stockholm, Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marika","family":"Melin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet","place":["Stockholm, Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp-rj.2024.200206","article-title":"The relationship between food insecurity and mental health","volume":"20","author":"Abeldt","year":"2024","journal-title":"American Journal of Psychiatry Residents"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2874","DOI":"10.1007\/s11606-019-05202-4","article-title":"A systematic review and Meta-analysis of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders in US adults with food insecurity","volume":"34","author":"Arenas","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Gen. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"120850","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2025.120850","article-title":"Reciprocal relationships among food insecurity, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms: an analysis of a nationwide cohort of Korean adults using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (2011\u20132018)","volume":"396","author":"Baek","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Affect. Disord."},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"A primer on Regression Artifacts, Methodology in the social Sciences","author":"Campbell","year":"1999"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"651","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2012.713275","article-title":"Latent curve models and latent change score models estimated in R","volume":"19","author":"Ghisletta","year":"2012","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Model. Multidiscip. J."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1574","DOI":"10.1111\/jcpp.13622","article-title":"Longitudinal relations between impaired executive function and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in childhood","volume":"63","author":"Halse","year":"2022","journal-title":"Child Psychology Psychiatry"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.1037\/a0038889","article-title":"A critique of the cross-lagged panel model","volume":"20","author":"Hamaker","year":"2015","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2012.09.036","article-title":"A critical assessment of connectivity measures for EEG data: a simulation study","volume":"64","author":"Haufe","year":"2013","journal-title":"NeuroImage"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dcn.2017.11.007","article-title":"Developmental cognitive neuroscience using latent change score models: a tutorial and applications","volume":"33","author":"Kievit","year":"2018","journal-title":"Dev. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"488","DOI":"10.1002\/jocb.606","article-title":"Curiosity causes creativity? Revealing the reinforcement circle between state curiosity and creativity","volume":"57","author":"Ma","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Creat. Behav."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-024-09887-w","article-title":"Cracking chicken-egg conundrums: juxtaposing contemporaneous and lagged reciprocal effects models of academic self-concept and achievement\u2019s directional ordering","volume":"36","author":"Marsh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Educ. Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"577","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.60.110707.163612","article-title":"Latent variable modeling of differences and changes with longitudinal data","volume":"60","author":"McArdle","year":"2009","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"638","DOI":"10.1080\/10705511.2020.1784738","article-title":"Three extensions of the random intercept cross-lagged panel model","volume":"28","author":"Mulder","year":"2021","journal-title":"Struct. Equ. Model."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1311","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000647","article-title":"Thinking clearly about time-invariant confounders in cross-lagged panel models: a guide for choosing a statistical model from a causal inference perspective","volume":"30","author":"Murayama","year":"2025","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1007\/s13668-020-00309-1","article-title":"Food insecurity and psychological distress: a review of the recent literature","volume":"9","author":"Myers","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr Nutr Rep"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10059","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-025-10059-7","article-title":"The reciprocal effects model is robust to alternative modeling specifications: a response to Sorjonen et al., 2025","volume":"37","author":"N\u00fa\u00f1ez-Regueiro","year":"2025","journal-title":"Educ. Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref17","volume-title":"R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing","year":"2026"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"842","DOI":"10.1177\/25152459221140842","article-title":"These are not the effects you are looking for: causality and the within\u2212\/between-persons distinction in longitudinal data analysis","volume":"6","author":"Rohrer","year":"2023","journal-title":"Adv. Methods Pract. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v048.i02","article-title":"Lavaan: an R package for structural equation modeling","volume":"48","author":"Rosseel","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw."},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1111\/jpm.12969","article-title":"Food insecurity in adults with severe mental illness: a systematic review with meta-analysis","volume":"31","author":"Smith","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Psychiatr. Ment. Health Nurs."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1500200","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1500200","article-title":"Inconclusive effects between executive functions and symptoms of psychiatric disorders in random-intercept cross-lagged panel models: a simulated reanalysis and comment on Halse et al. (2022)","volume":"16","author":"Sorjonen","year":"","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0337928","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0337928","article-title":"Using triangulation to evaluate findings from random-intercept cross-lagged panel models: an application with data on curiosity and creativity","volume":"20","author":"Sorjonen","year":"","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-025-10008-4","article-title":"Inconclusive evidence for a prospective effect of academic self-concept on achievement: a simulated reanalysis and comment on Marsh et al. (2024)","volume":"37","author":"Sorjonen","year":"","journal-title":"Educ. Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1007\/s10648-025-10083-7","article-title":"Still no convincing evidence for a causal effect of academic self-concept on achievement: a reply to N\u00fa\u00f1ez-Regueiro et al., 2025","volume":"37","author":"Sorjonen","year":"","journal-title":"Educ. Psychol. Rev."},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4485","DOI":"10.1080\/10408398.2021.2002806","article-title":"Prevalence of food insecurity in people with major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia and related psychoses: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"63","author":"Teasdale","year":"2023","journal-title":"Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr."},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"637","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000210","article-title":"A unified framework of longitudinal models to examine reciprocal relations","volume":"24","author":"Usami","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1866873\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T05:38:09Z","timestamp":1785476289000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1866873\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]]},"references-count":26,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1866873"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1866873","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]]},"article-number":"1866873"}}