Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Research Center, Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; Psychosomatic Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
J Affect Disord. 2018 Aug 15;236:140-148. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.04.120. Epub 2018 Apr 27.
Psychological problems affect many employees and their job performance. Although, the association of diet and stress, as modifiable risk factors, with psychological problems have been investigated separately, however their simultaneous impacts have not been studied. The present study aimed at reinvestigating the association of major dietary patterns and stressful life events with intensity of psychological problems in a large sample of Iranian industrial employees.
In a cross-sectional study, 3063 employees in an industrial unit in Isfahan, Iran were investigated. Psychological problems profile as a latent construct was extracted from three common psychological problems; depression, anxiety and psychological distress. Depression and anxiety were measured by Persian validated version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and psychological distress by the 12 items General Health Questionnaires (GHQ). Major dietary patterns were derived from a validated short form of semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) using explanatory factor analysis. Stressful life events dimensions were extracted based on factor analysis, from self-perceived frequency and intensity of Stressful Life Events (SLE) questionnaire. Associations of the obtained factors were investigated in a latent structural modeling framework.
Three dietary patterns i.e. western, traditional and healthy and two stressors dimensions including personal life and socioeconomics were extracted. Greater adherence to healthy diet was protectively associated with psychological problems profile scores (β = -0.54; 95% CI: -0.74, -0.34). Adherence to western (β = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.45) and Iranian traditional (β = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.68) dietary patterns were positively associated with higher psychological problems scores in employees. But after adjustment for life stressors only adherence to a healthy diet remained significantly associated with psychological problems profile (β = -0.43; 95% CI: -0.59, -0.27). Also, personal life stressors (β = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.99) and socioeconomics stressors (β = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.16) had significantly direct association with psychological problems profile scores.
Variables assessment by self-reported questionnaires, not affording causality because of cross sectional design, not adjusting the nutrients intake in association analyses, relatively small sample size of women.
Life stressors particularly personal stressors have negative direct association with psychological health of employees. Adherence to a healthy diet can be related to improvement of psychological health in employees. The results can be useful in occupational health planning in order to improve mental health and job productivity.
心理问题影响许多员工及其工作表现。虽然饮食和压力作为可改变的风险因素与心理问题的关系已分别进行了研究，但它们的同时影响尚未得到研究。本研究旨在重新调查伊朗大型工业员工中主要饮食模式和压力生活事件与心理问题严重程度的关联。
在一项横断面研究中，对伊朗伊斯法罕的一个工业单位的 3063 名员工进行了调查。从三个常见的心理问题（抑郁、焦虑和心理困扰）中提取了心理问题概况这一潜在结构。采用经过验证的波斯语版医院焦虑和抑郁量表（HADS）测量抑郁和焦虑，采用 12 项一般健康问卷（GHQ）测量心理困扰。主要饮食模式通过解释性因素分析从经过验证的半定量食物频率问卷（FFQ）的简短形式中得出。压力生活事件维度根据自我感知的压力生活事件（SLE）问卷的频率和强度，基于因子分析提取。在潜在结构建模框架中调查获得的因子之间的关联。
提取了三种饮食模式，即西方模式、传统模式和健康模式，以及两个压力源维度，包括个人生活和社会经济。更坚持健康饮食与心理问题概况评分呈保护相关（β=-0.54；95%CI：-0.74，-0.34）。坚持西方（β=0.23；95%CI：0.02，0.45）和伊朗传统（β=0.48；95%CI：0.28，0.68）饮食模式与员工较高的心理问题评分呈正相关。但是，在调整生活压力源后，只有坚持健康饮食与心理问题概况呈显著相关（β=-0.43；95%CI：-0.59，-0.27）。此外，个人生活压力源（β=0.81；95%CI：0.63，0.99）和社会经济压力源（β=0.12；95%CI：0.08，0.16）与心理问题概况评分呈显著直接关联。
变量通过自我报告的问卷评估，由于横断面设计，不能确定因果关系，关联分析中没有调整营养素摄入量，女性样本量相对较小。
生活压力源，特别是个人压力源，与员工的心理健康呈负直接相关。坚持健康饮食可以改善员工的心理健康。研究结果可用于职业健康规划，以改善心理健康和工作效率。
