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A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults – A randomised controlled trial
This 2019 study, the first RCT to assess young adults, tested the positive association between “healthy” diet consumption and reduced depressive symptoms. It targeted young adults with elevated levels of depression symptoms who did not eat healthily. The 101 young adults were randomly categorized into either the diet group (which implemented a diet alteration for 3 weeks) or the control group (which consumed their habitual diet) and were examined on symptoms of depression (Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-R); Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale– 21 depression subscale (DASS-21-D)), memory (Hopkins Verbal Learning Test), current mood (Profile of Mood States) and self-efficacy (New General Self-Efficacy Scale) at baseline and after the intervention. Diet compliance was also determined through self-reported questionnaires and spectrophotometry. The results showed that the Diet group reported significantly fewer symptoms of depression than the control group on the CESD-R (p=0.007) and DASS-21 depression subscale (p=0.002) while controlling for baselines scores on these scales. The lower DASS-21 depression scores were maintained 3 months later, as determined by follow-up phone calls. These are promising signs for diet interventions to be utilized in the management of depression. [NPID: depression, mood, self-efficacy]
Year: 2019
