Journal article
Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet Is Inversely Associated with Anxiety and Stress but Not Depression: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Community-Dwelling Older Australians
Nutrients, Vol.16(3), pp.1-13
2024
PMCID: PMC10857277
PMID: 38337651
Related media
Expert Quote
Mediterranean diet linked to reduced anxiety: research findings
UniSC News (Julie Schomberg)Abstract
Diet quality may be an important modifiable risk factor for mental health disorders. However, these findings have been inconsistent, particularly in older adults. We explored the independent associations between adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and severity of symptoms related to depression, anxiety and stress in older adults from Australia. This was a cross-sectional analysis of older Australians ≥ 60 years. MedDiet adherence was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS), and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS−21) was used to assess the severity of negative emotional symptoms. A total of n = 294 participants were included in the final analyses (70.4 ± 6.2 years). Adherence to a MedDiet was inversely associated with the severity of anxiety symptoms (β = −0.118; CI: −0.761, −0.012; p = 0.043) independent of age, gender, BMI, physical activity, sleep, cognitive risk and ability to perform activities of daily living. Furthermore, MedDiet adherence was inversely associated with symptoms of stress (β = −0.151; CI: −0.680, −0.073; p = 0.015) independent of age, gender, BMI, physical activity and sleep. However, no relationship between MedDiet adherence and depressive symptoms was observed. We showed that adherence to a MedDiet is inversely associated with the severity of symptoms related to anxiety and stress but not depression. Exploring these findings with the use of longitudinal analyses and robust clinical trials are needed to better elucidate these findings in older adults.
Details
- Title
- Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet Is Inversely Associated with Anxiety and Stress but Not Depression: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Community-Dwelling Older Australians
- Authors
- Lisa Allcock (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - LegacyEvangeline Mantzioris (Author) - University of South AustraliaAnthony Villani (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics
- Publication details
- Nutrients, Vol.16(3), pp.1-13
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu16030366
- ISSN
- 2072-6643
- PMID
- 38337651; PMC10857277
- Copyright note
- © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- Data that support these findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99994998102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
3 File views/ downloads
59 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Nutrition & Dietetics
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: SDGs from InCites