The Association between Vegan, Vegetarian, and Omnivore Diet Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Hayley Walsh, Megan Lee () and Talitha Best
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Hayley Walsh: Gold Coast Campus, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Megan Lee: Gold Coast Campus, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4226, Australia
Talitha Best: NeuroHealth Lab, Appleton Institute, School of Health, Medical and Applied Science, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Dietary patterns and depressive symptoms are associated in cross-sectional and prospective-designed research. However, limited research has considered depression risk related to meat-based and plant-based dietary patterns. This study explores the association between diet quality and depressive symptoms across omnivore, vegan, and vegetarian dietary patterns. A cross-sectional online survey utilised the Dietary Screening Tool (DST) and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale (CESD-20) to measure diet quality and depressive symptoms, respectively. A total of 496 participants identified as either omnivores ( n = 129), vegetarians ( n = 151), or vegans ( n = 216). ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc corrections indicates that dietary quality was significantly different between groups F(2, 493) = 23.61, p < 0.001 for omnivores and vegetarians and omnivores and vegans. Diet quality was highest in the vegan sample, followed by vegetarian and omnivore patterns. The results show a significant, moderately negative relationship between higher diet quality and lower depressive symptoms (r = −0.385, p < 0.001) across groups. Hierarchical regression showed that diet quality accounted for 13% of the variability in depressive symptoms for the omnivore sample, 6% for vegetarians, and 8% for vegans. This study suggests that diet quality in a meat-based or plant-based diet could be a modifiable lifestyle factor with the potential to reduce the risk of depressive symptoms. The study indicates a greater protective role of a high-quality plant-based diet and lower depressive symptoms. Further intervention research is needed to understand the bi-directional relationship between diet quality and depressive symptoms across dietary patterns.

Keywords: dietary pattern; depression; plant-based; meat-based; diet quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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