TABLE 3—
Key Results of Included Articles, Including Summary, Covariates, and Methodological Quality Score
| Results |
||||
| Author | Key Results | Summary | Covariates | Quality Score, % |
| Cohort, Prospective Studies | ||||
| Wiles et al.20 | OR = 1.01 (CI = 0.94, 1.09) | No association between junk food dietary pattern at age 4.5 and emotional problems at age 7 (dietary pattern) | Sex, SDQ total difficulties or subscale score at age 4.5 y, maternal smoking, maternal age at birth of child, number of siblings, socioeconomic markers, birth weight and gestational age, maternal depression and anxiety, maternal enjoyment score, and single-parent household | 75 |
| Jacka et al.10 | C2: b = 0.11* (CI = 0.01, 0.21) | Dose–response prospective association between higher baseline healthy diet quality scores and higher PedsQL scores at 2-y follow-up (dietary quality) | Age, sex, area-level SES, dieting behaviors, BMI, physical activity, baseline PedsQL scores | 75 |
| C3: b = 0.14* (CI = 0.02,0.27) | No prospective association between higher unhealthy diet quality scores and lower PedsQL (dietary quality) after controlling for baseline mental health | |||
| C2: b = 0.05 (CI = −0.04,0.27) | ||||
| C3: b = −0.07 (CI = −0.18, 0.03) | ||||
| McMartin et al.11 | IRR = 1.09 (CI = 0.73, 1.63) | No association between “overall” DQI-I diet quality scores and rates of internalizing disorders (dietary quality) | Sex, energy intake, household income, parental marital status and education, body weight status, physical activity level, geographic area | 91.7 |
| IRR = 0.45* (CI = 0.25–0.82) | Greater “variety” component DQI-I diet quality scores associated with lower rates of internalizing disorders over 3-y follow-up period (dietary quality) | |||
| Cross-Sectional Studies | ||||
| Brooks et al.21 | Males: OR = 1.07 (CI = 0.98,1.18); | No association between a healthy diet and feeling depressed or stressed for males | Age, race | 62.5 |
| Females: OR = 0.89* (CI = 0.83,0.96) | Eating a healthy diet was associated with reduced odds of feeling depressed or stressed for females | |||
| Oddy et al.22 | b = 1.25* (CI = 0.15, 2.35) | A Western dietary pattern was associated with higher CBCL internalizing scores (dietary pattern) | Sex, total energy intake, BMI category, physical activity, screen use, family structure, family income, family functioning at age 14 and maternal education at pregnancy | 100 |
| b = 0.17 (CI = −0.54, 0.88) | No association between healthy dietary pattern and CBCL internalizing scores (dietary pattern) | |||
| Jacka et al.23 | Age, sex, physical activity, parental work and educational status, household level, SES, dieting behaviors, family conflict and poor family management, BMI, smoking, and physical activity | 75 | ||
| Unhealthy diet | Q2: OR = 1.03 (CI = 0.87, 1.22) | Dose–response association between higher unhealthy diet scores and higher odds of being depressed (SMFQ score; dietary quality) | ||
| Q3: OR = 1.22 (CI = 1.03, 1.44) | ||||
| Q4: OR = 1.29 (CI = 1.12, 1.50) | ||||
| Q5: OR = 1.79 (CI = 1.52, 2.11) | ||||
| Healthy diet | Q2: OR = 0.61 (CI = 0.45, 0.84) | Dose–response association between higher scores on healthy diet scores and lower odds of being depressed (SMFQ score; dietary quality) | ||
| Q3: OR = 0.58 (CI = 0.43, 0.79) | ||||
| Q4: OR = 0.47 (CI = 0.35, 0.64) | ||||
| Q5: OR = 0.55 (CI = 0.40, 0.77) | ||||
| Jacka et al.10 | Age, sex, area level, SES, dieting behaviors, BMI, and physical activity | 75 | ||
| Healthy diet score (least healthy) | C2: b = 0.31* (CI = 0.22, 0.39) | Dose–response associations between higher healthy diet quality scores and higher PedsQL scores (dietary quality) | ||
| C3: b = 0.42* (0.31, 0.53) | ||||
| Unhealthy diet score | C2: b = −0.14* (CI = −0.23, −0.06) | Dose–response associations between higher unhealthy diet quality scores and lower PedsQL (dietary quality) | ||
| C3: b = −0.29* (CI = −0.38, −0.20) | ||||
| Robinson et al.24 | b = 0.32* (CI = 0.03, 0.60) | “Extras” food group associated with higher internalizing CBCL scores (dietary pattern) | Sex, sociodemographic factors (family income, father not at home, and maternal employment), family functioning, physical activity, screen use, smoking, alcohol, marijuana use, and early sexual activity | 87.5 |
| Vegetable food group | b = 0.14 (CI = −0.41, 0.69) | No association between the vegetable, fruit, dairy, cereal, or meat and meat alternatives food groups and internalizing CBCL scores (dietary pattern) | ||
| Fruit food group | b = 0.09 (CI = −0.39, 0.21) | |||
| Dairy food group | b = 0.11 (CI = −0.36, 0.59) | |||
| Cereal food group | b = −0.09 (CI = −0.57, 0.39) | |||
| Meat and meat alternatives food group | b = 0.01(CI = −0.62, 0.63) | |||
| Weng et al.12 | Age, sex, maternal education, paternal education, family income, BMI, physical activity | 87.5 | ||
| Snack dietary pattern and pure depression, pure anxiety, and coexisting depression and anxiety | Pure depression: | Highest tertile of snack dietary pattern associated with higher odds of pure depression, anxiety, and coexisting depression and anxiety (dietary pattern) | ||
| T2: OR = 0.98 (CI = 0.77, 1.25) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.64* (CI = 1.30, 2.06) | ||||
| Pure anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 1.38* (CI = 1.08, 1.65) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.87* (CI = 1.51, 2.31) | ||||
| Coexisting depression and anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 1.27 (CI = 1.00, 2.43) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.93* (CI = 1.54, 2.43) | ||||
| Animal dietary pattern and pure depression, pure anxiety, and coexisting depression and anxiety | Pure depression: | Highest tertile of animal dietary pattern associated with higher odds of pure anxiety and coexisting depression and anxiety, but not pure depression (dietary pattern) | ||
| T2: OR = 1.08 (CI = 0.86, 1.37) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.21 (CI = 0.95, 1.53) | ||||
| Pure anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 1.34* (CI = 1.08, 1.65) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.87* (CI = 1.51, 2.32) | ||||
| Coexisting depression and anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 1.10 (CI = 0.88, 1.39) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.71* (CI = 1.37, 2.15) | ||||
| Traditional dietary pattern and pure depression, pure anxiety, and coexisting depression and anxiety | Pure depression: | Highest tertile of traditional dietary pattern associated with reduced odds of pure depression and coexisting depression and anxiety, but not pure anxiety (dietary pattern) | ||
| T2: OR = 0.61* (CI = 0.49, 0.79) | ||||
| T3: OR = 0.38* (CI = 0.30, 0.49) | ||||
| Pure anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 0.98 (CI = 0.79, 1.23) | ||||
| T3: OR = 0.85 (CI = 0.69, 1.04) | ||||
| Coexisting depression and anxiety: | ||||
| T2: OR = 0.74* (CI = 0.60, 0.92) | ||||
| T3: OR = 1.50* (CI = 0.39, 0.63) | ||||
| Kohlboeck et al.25 | OR = 0.89* (CI = 0.80, 0.98) | Higher diet quality score associated with lower emotional SDQ scores (dietary quality) | Sex, study center, total energy intake, parental background (education, income, single-parent family), BMI, physical activity, TV viewing or video game use | 87.5 |
| OR = 1.19* (CI = 1.08,1.32) | Increased confectionary food group associated with higher emotional SDQ scores (dietary pattern) | |||
| No association between dairy, fats and oils, fruits and vegetables, confectionary, cereals, bakery wares, meat products, egg products, or ready-to-eat savories and emotional SDQ scores (dietary pattern) | ||||
| Fulkerson et al.26 | ||||
| Daily vegetable intake | Males: 1.8 (low), 1.9, (moderate), and 1.9 (high) | No association between depressive symptoms and daily servings of vegetables or fruits for either sex (dietary pattern) | Race, grade level; all analyses stratified by sex | 100 |
| Females: 2.0 (low), 1.9 (moderate), and 2.3 (high) | ||||
| Daily fruit intake | Males: 2.3 (low), 2.2 (moderate), and 2.3 (high) | |||
| Females: 2.5 (low), 2.3 (moderate), and 2.3 (high) | ||||
| Renzaho et al.27 | Household income, family structure, child age and sex, parental educational level, language spoken at home, financial stress, food security, and social support | 87.5 | ||
| Fruit consumption | Males: b = −0.054* (CI = −0.095, −0.012) | Emotional SDQ scores associated with lower fruit consumption for males and females (dietary pattern) | ||
| Females: b = −0.064* (CI = −0.112, −0.015) | ||||
| Vegetable consumption | Males: b = −0.014 (CI = −0.054, 0.025) | Emotional SDQ scores associated with lower vegetable consumption for females but not males (dietary pattern) | ||
| Females: b = −0.050* (CI = −0.088, −0.012) | ||||
| Vollrath et al.28 | OR = 1.47* (CI = 1.32, 1.65) | Internalizing scores associated with higher consumption of sweet foods (dietary pattern) | Maternal characteristics (negative affectivity, completed education in years, duration of breastfeeding), child sex, temperament, and weight for length at 1 y | 75 |
Note. BMI = body mass index; C = category; CBCL = Child Behavior Checklist; CI = confidence interval; IRR = incident rate ratio; OR = odds ratio; PedsQL = Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory; Q = quartile; SES = socioeconomic status; SDQ = Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SMFQ = Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire; T = tertile.
*Significant results.