The association between ‘Vegetarian for Life’ diet quality, social connection and depressive symptoms within Western and Indian regional groups

Background:
Dietary patterns rich in plant foods have been broadly associated with a lower risk of depression due to the profile of bioactive components related to positive physical and neurological mechanisms of effect. Yet vegans and vegetarians are reported to experience higher depressive symptoms, a profile of psychological and physiological symptoms that indicate poor mental health. The role of eating behaviors within sociocultural contexts associated with dietary intake is one aspect of psychological functioning that has received limited attention.

Methods:
We explored diet quality, social connectedness and depressive symptoms in 312 lifelong adult vegans (51 %) and vegetarians (49 %) from Western and Indian populations.

Results:
Hierarchical linear regression revealed that higher diet quality was associated with lower depressive symptoms (β = −0.11, t = −2.86, p < .05). Those in the lowest diet quality quartile experienced significantly higher depressive symptoms (M = 18.7, SD = 9.56), than those in the medium (M = 12.3, SD = 12.13) and highest (M = 10.38, SD = 9.60) diet quality quartiles. But, when social connectedness was included in a within-populations analysis, diet quality was no longer a significant predictor for the Indian population.

Conclusions:
The results underscore the importance of considering socio-cultural dimensions to adherence to dietary patterns, the context of dietary quality and social connection when examining depressive symptoms.