Johannes Baltasar Hessler-Kaufmann1,2, Adrian Meule3,4, Christina Holzapfel5, Beate Brandl6, Martin Greetfeld3, Thomas Skurk6, Sandra Schlegl4, Hans Hauner5,7, Ulrich Voderholzer3,4,8. 1. Schoen Clinic Roseneck, Am Roseneck 6, 83209, Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. johannes.hessler@med.uni-muenchen.de. 2. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. johannes.hessler@med.uni-muenchen.de. 3. Schoen Clinic Roseneck, Am Roseneck 6, 83209, Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. 5. Institute for Nutritional Medicine, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. 6. ZIEL-Institute for Food and Health, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany. 7. Chair of Nutritional Medicine, Else Kröner-Fresenius Center for Nutritional Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany. 8. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Vegetarianism and semi-vegetarianism (i.e., overly vegetarian diet with rare consumption of meat) have been repeatedly linked with depression. As the nature of this association is unclear, we explored whether orthorexic (i.e., pathologically healthful eating) tendencies and ecological/ethical motives to follow a vegetarian diet may moderate the relationship between (semi-)vegetarian diets and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Five-hundred eleven adults (63.4% females; 71.2% omnivores, 19.2% semi-vegetarians, 9.6% vegetarians) completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) questionnaire-measuring depressive symptoms-and the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale (DOS)-measuring orthorexic tendencies. Based on respective questions, participants were categorized as omnivores, semi-vegetarians, and vegetarians (including vegans) and were asked to indicate whether they chose their diet based on ecological/ethical motives. Moderation analyses were carried out with PROCESS. RESULTS: Adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index, there was a statistically significant interaction effect between diet (omnivore vs. semi-vegetarianism vs. vegetarianism) and DOS scores when predicting PHQ depression scores. At low or medium DOS scores, diets did not differ in PHQ depression scores (all ps > 0.05). At high DOS scores, however, semi-vegetarians had higher PHQ depression scores than both omnivores (p = 0.002) and vegetarians (p < 0.001). The interaction between diet and ecological/ethical eating motives when predicting PHQ depression scores was not statistically significant (p = 0.41). CONCLUSION: Semi-vegetarians with strong orthorexic tendencies show more depressive symptoms than omnivores and vegetarians. The complex nature of the relationship between vegetarianism and depression requires further investigation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III, case-control analytic studies.
PURPOSE: Vegetarianism and semi-vegetarianism (i.e., overly vegetarian diet with rare consumption of meat) have been repeatedly linked with depression. As the nature of this association is unclear, we explored whether orthorexic (i.e., pathologically healthful eating) tendencies and ecological/ethical motives to follow a vegetarian diet may moderate the relationship between (semi-)vegetarian diets and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Five-hundred eleven adults (63.4% females; 71.2% omnivores, 19.2% semi-vegetarians, 9.6% vegetarians) completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) questionnaire-measuring depressive symptoms-and the Düsseldorf Orthorexia Scale (DOS)-measuring orthorexic tendencies. Based on respective questions, participants were categorized as omnivores, semi-vegetarians, and vegetarians (including vegans) and were asked to indicate whether they chose their diet based on ecological/ethical motives. Moderation analyses were carried out with PROCESS. RESULTS: Adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index, there was a statistically significant interaction effect between diet (omnivore vs. semi-vegetarianism vs. vegetarianism) and DOS scores when predicting PHQ depression scores. At low or medium DOS scores, diets did not differ in PHQ depression scores (all ps > 0.05). At high DOS scores, however, semi-vegetarians had higher PHQ depression scores than both omnivores (p = 0.002) and vegetarians (p < 0.001). The interaction between diet and ecological/ethical eating motives when predicting PHQ depression scores was not statistically significant (p = 0.41). CONCLUSION: Semi-vegetarians with strong orthorexic tendencies show more depressive symptoms than omnivores and vegetarians. The complex nature of the relationship between vegetarianism and depression requires further investigation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III, case-control analytic studies.
Authors: Felice N Jacka; Julie A Pasco; Lana J Williams; Neil Mann; Allison Hodge; Laima Brazionis; Michael Berk Journal: Psychother Psychosom Date: 2012-03-17 Impact factor: 17.659
Authors: Hellas Cena; Friederike Barthels; Massimo Cuzzolaro; Steven Bratman; Anna Brytek-Matera; Thomas Dunn; Marta Varga; Benjamin Missbach; Lorenzo M Donini Journal: Eat Weight Disord Date: 2018-11-09 Impact factor: 4.652
Authors: Beate Brandl; Thomas Skurk; Rachel Rennekamp; Anne Hannink; Eva Kiesswetter; Jessica Freiherr; Susanne Ihsen; Jutta Roosen; Martin Klingenspor; Dirk Haller; Dietmar Krautwurst; Thomas Hofmann; Jakob Linseisen; Dorothee Volkert; Hans Hauner Journal: Front Nutr Date: 2020-10-28