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Large vegan sample reports less anxiety and stress than omnivores (823.3)
Author(s) -
Beezhold Bonnie,
Radnitz Cynthia,
DiMatteo Julie
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.823.3
Subject(s) - omnivore , mood , anxiety , dass , vegan diet , clinical psychology , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , biology , paleontology , predation
Studies investigating mood in vegetarian diets have yielded conflicting results, either demonstrating risk for mental disorders or mood protection. We examined mood and diet in a large community sample of adult vegans (n=227) and omnivores (n=221). Participants completed an online survey which included the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale‐21. The sample was mostly female (78%), so one‐way between‐groups ANCOVAs were conducted in both males and females to compare the effect of diet type on DASS scores, adjusting for age. Age had a significant relationship with DASS‐Anxiety and DASS‐Stress scores (ω2 < .06). There was a difference in mean DASS‐A scores in males, F(1,105)=8.89, p=.004, ω2=.08, with vegans reporting lower anxiety scores than omnivores (2.81±0.40 vs 5.74±1.0); a vegan diet (r=‐.311) and daily fruit and vegetable intake (r=‐.246) were inversely related to anxiety in males. There was also a difference in mean DASS‐S scores in females, F(1,380)=6.22, p=.013, ω2=.02, with vegans reporting lower stress scores than omnivores (8.14±0.47 vs 10.31±0.61); a vegan diet (r=‐.126) and plant omega‐3 intake (r=‐.158) were inversely related to stress in females. The apparent mood protection of a vegan diet may be gender‐specific.