Depression 7X more likely in male youths if low vitamin D - Oct 2014

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and depressive symptoms among young adult men and women.

Nutrients. 2014 Oct 28;6(11):4720-30. doi: 10.3390/nu6114720.
Polak MA1, Houghton LA2, Reeder AI3, Harper MJ4, Conner TS5.
1Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. mariapolak at psy.otago.ac.nz.
2Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. lisa.houghton at otago.ac.nz.
3Cancer Society Social and Behavioural Research Unit, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. tony.reeder at otago.ac.nz.
4Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. michelle.harper at otago.ac.nz.
5Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. tconner at psy.otago.ac.nz.

There has been an increased interest in the role of vitamin D in depression; however, there have been few studies conducted in younger population groups. Our aim was to investigate the association between vitamin D status and depressive symptoms in a non-clinical young adult sample living in Dunedin, New Zealand. A cross-sectional sample of 615 young adults completed a questionnaire including demographics and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Height, weight and a blood sample for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was obtained. Serum 25(OH)D was used to predict depression scores, adjusting for potential confounders including time spent outdoors for 13 consecutive days, BMI, age, sex and ethnicity. Prevalence of low vitamin D was high even in this age group, and serum 25(OH)D was negatively associated with depression symptoms before and after adjustment. When investigating the relationship between the presence versus absence of depressive symptoms and quartiles of 25(OH)D, participants in the lowest quartile were more likely to report depressive symptoms compared with those in the highest quartile. Although our findings suggest that vitamin D is a predictor of depression symptomatology, even when controlling for time spent outdoors, a randomised controlled trial in this young adult target group is needed to confirm the association.
Table 3 from PDF

PMID: 25353666

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Note: Residents of Dunedin (46 S Latitude) are unlikely to get much vitamin D from the sun

See also VitaminDWiki

• Depression and low Vitamin D – review 2014
• Postpartum depression 7X more likely if less than 10 ng of vitamin D – Sept 2014
• Depression category listing has 269 items along with related searches
• Depression appears to consume vitamin D – Feb 2015
• Clinical Trials of vitamin D can have “biological flaws” – Jan 2015
• Anti-depression medication about as good as big increase in vitamin D – meta-analysis of flawless data April 2014
• Depression might be reduced by vitamin D – meta-analysis March 2014

Items in both categories Depression and Youths are listed here: