Table 2.

Cross-sectional associations between plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) measures and odds of mental disorders at 17 years.

Outcome (n with vs. without outcome)	Exposure	Crude models			Adjusted models
		Odds ratio	95% CI	p	Odds ratio	95% CI	p
Psychotic disorder (79 vs. 4639)	Total n-6 PUFAs	0.90	0.65–1.26	0.544	0.72	0.49–1.07	0.107
	Total n-3 PUFAs	0.86	0.60–1.23	0.396	0.83	0.57–1.19	0.305
	n-6:n-3 ratio	1.04	0.76–1.44	0.798	0.93	0.67–1.31	0.688
	DHA % total fatty acids	0.78	0.57–1.07	0.125	0.76	0.55–1.06	0.112
Moderate/severe depressive disorder (227 vs. 4336)	Total n-6 PUFAs	1.13	0.95–1.34	0.161	0.96	0.78–1.16	0.648
	Total n-3 PUFAs	1.03	0.85–1.24	0.785	0.98	0.81–1.20	0.861
	n-6:n-3 ratio	1.07	0.88–1.30	0.497	0.98	0.80–1.20	0.815
	DHA % total fatty acids	0.99	0.83–1.18	0.918	0.98	0.82–1.18	0.845
Generalised anxiety disorder (263 vs. 4300)	Total n-6 PUFAs	1.07	0.92–1.25	0.373	0.92	0.77–1.10	0.347
	Total n-3 PUFAs	1.08	0.93–1.26	0.316	1.03	0.88–1.21	0.691
	n-6:n-3 ratio	0.95	0.77–1.16	0.582	0.88	0.72–1.08	0.227
	DHA % total fatty acids	1.08	0.93–1.25	0.299	1.03	0.88–1.20	0.731

BMI: body mass index; CI: confidence interval; DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; n-6: omega-6; n-3: omega-3; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acid.

PUFA measures were converted to z-scores such that the odds ratios may be interpreted as per standard deviation increase in the PUFA measure at 17 years. Covariates in adjusted models included age at attendance at age 17 clinic, sex, BMI at 17 years and average number of cigarettes smoked per day at 17 years.