Research paperVegetarian diet and mental health: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in culturally diverse samples
Section snippets
Vegetarian diet and mental health: longitudinal prediction
Long prevalent in some Asian cultures, the popularity of the plant-based diet is on the rise in the Western world. Vegetarians enjoy multiple physical health benefits from cutting out meat, such as lowered blood pressure and cholesterol in women (Cade et al., 2004), as well as altruistic benefits and peace of mind in the areas of animal ethics (i.e., less harm to animals), and environmental protection (i.e., less acreage is needed to grow plants than to raise animals, and less pollution is
Procedure
Data for the present study were drawn from the BOOM (Bochum Optimism and Mental Health) studies, a large-scale, cross-cultural, longitudinal investigation of risk and protective factors in mental health (Maercker et al., 2015; Margraf and Schneider, 2018). The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum approved the study. Data were collected between November 2012 and February 2014 through three professional opinion research institutes. Four different assessment
Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations
Demographic characteristics of the five samples included in our study are shown in Table 1. The proportion of individuals following a vegetarian diet ranges from 2.8% (representative Russian sample) to 22.2% (Chinese student sample). In Table 2, descriptive statistics for the mental health variables are presented. Descriptive statistics for the follow-up data included in the longitudinal analyses are also shown for the two student samples.
Supplemental Table 1 (available as supplemental online
Discussion
The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between vegetarianism and mental health cross-culturally, and over time. The present study is the first large-scale, multi-national, prospective longitudinal study to examine vegetarianism and mental health known to the authors.
Results indicated that vegetarian diet was not significantly associated with depression in the German and Russian representative samples, nor the German student sample. Moreover, there was no zero-order
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum approved the study. Participants gave their informed consent orally after being informed about anonymity and voluntariness of the survey. Participants received no financial compensation.
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Funding
This study was supported by Alexander von Humboldt Professorship awarded to Jürgen Margraf by the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. We also acknowledge support by the DFG Open Access Publication Funds of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Authors' contributions
Kristen Lavallee was involved in analysis design and writing. Xiao Chi Zhang was involved in analysis design and writing. Johannes Michalak was involved in conducting analyses and writing. Juergen Margraf and Silvia Schneider were involved in study design. conceptualization, and approval of final drafts.
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the contribution of the participants in this study, as well as Angela Bieda, Julia Brailovskaia, Pia Schönfeld, and Julia Velten for their assistance in data collection and management.
References (37)
- et al.
Will the real vegetarian please stand up? An investigation of dietary restraint and eating disorder symptoms in vegetarians versus non-vegetarians
Appetite
(2012) - et al.
Model of the process of adopting vegetarian diets: health vegetarians and ethical vegetarians
J. Nutr. Educ.
(1998) - et al.
Health, ethics and environment: a qualitative study of vegetarian motivations
Appetite
(2008) - et al.
Vegetarian diets and depressive symptoms among men
J. Affect Disord.
(2018) - et al.
Lifestyle-related characteristics of young low-meat consumers and omnivores in Sweden and Norway
J. Adolesc. Health
(2002) - et al.
Characteristics of vegetarian adolescents in a multiethnic urban population
J. Adolesc. Health
(2001) - et al.
Personal value orientations as mediated predictors of mental health: a three-culture study of Chinese, Russian, and German university students
Int. J. Clin. Health Psyc.
(2015) - et al.
The structure of negative emotional states - comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories
Behav. Res. Ther.
(1995) - et al.
The UK Women's Cohort Study: comparison of vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters
Public Health Nutr.
(2004) - et al.
How does the health and well-being of young Australian vegetarian and semi-vegetarian women compare with non-vegetarians?
Public Health Nutr.
(2007)
Mortality in vegetarians and non-vegetarians: a collaborative analysis of 8300 deaths among 76,000 men and women in five prospective studies
Public Health Nutr.
Mortality in British vegetarians
Public Health Nutr.
Vegetarian diets, low-meat diets and health: a review
Public Health Nutr.
Nutrition and health – the association between eating behavior and various health parameters: a matched sample study
Plos One
Vegetarian diet and mental disorders: results from a representative community survey
Int. J. Behav. Nutr. Phys. Activity
63. Vegetarian diets and mental health in adolescents with anorexia nervosa
J. Adolesc. Health
Vegetarian diets are associated with healthy mood states: a cross-sectional study in seventh day adventist adults
Nutr. J.
Vegans report less stress and anxiety than omnivores
Nutr. Neurosci.
Cited by (45)
“We Chinese just want meat!” An analysis of Chinese netizens’ reactions to vegetarian advocacy
2024, Food Quality and PreferenceVegetarianism and mental health: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study
2024, Journal of Affective DisordersAssociation of plant-based dietary patterns with depression and anxiety symptoms in Chinese older adults: A nationwide study
2024, Journal of Affective DisordersMeat consumption & positive mental health: A scoping review
2024, Preventive Medicine Reports