The association between dietary patterns and depression symptoms among adolescents: A cross-sectional study in Indonesia

Background Mental health and dietary patterns are important factors for adolescent well-being, but evidence on the relationship between overall dietary patterns and depression among Indonesian adolescents remains limited. This study investigates the relationship between dietary patterns and depression in Indonesian adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 228 school-aged adolescents (15-18 years old) from four schools. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-10 (K-10), and dietary patterns were derived from a non-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms. Results The study found that 17.5% of adolescents had depressive disorders. Five major dietary patterns were identified: nutrient-dense foods, modern Western foods, Indonesian traditional foods, animal protein and complex carbohydrates, and dairy products or probiotic foods. After adjusting for confounders, lower quintiles of modern-Western foods (q2 and q3) were significantly associated with a lower depression risk (ORadj = 0.07 [0.01–0.74]; p = 0.028 and ORadj = 0.09 [0.01–0.83]; p = 0.033) compared to the highest quintile (q5). The second quintile of Indonesian-traditional foods (q2) was also significantly associated with a lower risk of depression (ORadj = 0.02 [0.00–0.32]; p = 0.005). Conclusion This study indicates that the association between dietary patterns and depression in adolescents is observed only for the modern Western and Indonesian traditional dietary patterns. However, this relationship is not linear; therefore, caution is needed when interpreting it.