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Vegetarianism and mental health: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study.
- Source :
-
Journal of Affective Disorders . Apr2024, Vol. 351, p607-614. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Reducing animal product consumption has benefits for population health and the environment. The relationship between vegetarianism and mental health, however, remains poorly understood. This study explores this relationship in a nationally representative cohort in Great Britain. We use data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, which collected information on vegetarianism at age 30 in 2000 (n = 11,204) and psychological distress (PD) at ages 26, 30, 34, 42, and 46–48 in 2016/18. We first developed a statistical adjustment strategy by regressing PD at age 30 on vegetarianism and 14 confounders measured at ages 10 and 26. We then ran multilevel growth curve models, testing whether within-person changes in PD between ages 30 and 46–48 differed by vegetarianism, before and after statistical adjustment. At age 30, 4.5 % of participants reported being vegetarian. In the cross-sectional models at age 30, vegetarians reported more distress compared with non-vegetarians in bivariate analysis (b = 0.30, 95%CI 0.09, 0.52), but this difference disappeared in the fully-adjusted model (b = 0.02, 95%CI −0.17, 0.21). In the longitudinal models between ages 30 and 46/48, there were no differences in within-person changes in psychological distress between vegetarians and non-vegetarians (p =.723). Sensitivity analyses using red meat consumption yielded similar findings. In this British cohort, vegetarianism at age 30 was not associated with changes in psychological distress during mid-adulthood. Since psychological distress in early adulthood predicted vegetarianism at age 30, more studies are needed to disentangle the progression of this relationship over the life-course. • Most studies on vegetarianism and mental health are methodologically weak. • Vegetarianism at age 30 was not associated with subsequent changes in psychological distress in the 1970 British Cohort Study. • Vegetarianism and mental health may still be related during the transition to aduthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 01650327
- Volume :
- 351
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 175602846
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.183