Table 1 Glossary of terms.

Clinical functioning

Includes substance use and mental health-related concepts, such as cravings, mental health symptoms, anxiety, substance use, and motivation to abstain from substances.

Cognitive functioning

Refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring, processing, and using information, including attention, problem-solving, and decision-making. This study uses cognitive functioning measures such as fluid intelligence (i.e., in-the-moment problem-solving ability), impulsiveness, persistence, attention, and pre-occupation with re-entry related worries.

Salient

In cognitive psychology, something salient stands out and grabs attention. Salient elements in someone’s environment capture their focus and influence their perception, memory, and decision-making. Salience can be influenced by various factors, including the stimulus’s inherent properties (like brightness, color, or size), its context, and the individual’s internal state. When faced with scarcity of a basic need, that thing tends to become salient. For example, when someone is hungry, food often becomes more salient to them.

Scarcity

Scarcity is defined as any deficit—in money, time, social ties or any resource—that people experience in trying to meet their needs)¹¹. Scarcity forces people to make choices about how to allocate their resources, leading to trade-offs and opportunity costs¹¹. Examples include not having enough money for both housing and food, or not having transportation and having to choose between interviewing for a job or attending treatment. Considering how to navigate trade-offs can consume attention and problem-solving ability as people try to figure out how to meet their needs given scarce resources^11.

Hypothetical scarcity

Refers to scarcity experienced through hypothetical scenarios. Hypotheses 1a-1c of the current study assess reactions to hypothetical scarcity.

Actual scarcity

Refers to scarcity someone is currently experiencing in their life. In this study, we measure actual scarcity (such as number of unmet needs, food insecurity) and its effects on women’s functioning in the month after release from prison (Hypotheses 2a-2e). Western⁶²and others have described in detail how the year after prison is characterized by scarcity, including poverty, unemployment, difficulty accessing treatment, racial inequality, and failures of social support.