Abstract Purpose Agricultural producers face unique stressors that significantly impact mental health, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. This study offers a novel application of the Stress Process Model (SPM) to examine how agriculture-related stress, social support, and resilience shape mental health outcomes among agricultural producers. Methods N = 525 Illinois farmers participated in mailed surveys, with data collected in two panels: June-August 2020 ( N = 296) and March-May 2021 ( N = 229). Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Farm Stress Survey, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale. Mental health outcomes were assessed, along with general health. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling in R. Results Higher perceived and agricultural stress were linked to increased depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Social support reduced depressive symptoms (β = –0.121, p < .001) and suicidal ideation (β = –0.216, p < .001), mediating and moderating the relationship between stress and mental health. Resilience moderated the effects of stress, lowering depressive symptoms (β = –0.100, p = .001) and anxiety symptoms (β = –0.088, p < .001). Conclusion Findings highlight the importance of addressing occupational stress, enhancing social support, and promoting resilience to improve the health of agricultural producers. Interventions should target stress reduction and support systems based on the SPM framework.
Iwinski et al. (Tue,) studied this question.