Diet Quality and Resilience through Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the WELL for Life Study
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-31-2024
Publication Title
Nutrients
Volume
16
Issue
11
Pages
1-14
Publisher Name
MDPI
Publisher Location
Basel, Switzerland
Abstract
Despite evidence suggesting the importance of psychological resilience for successful aging, little is known about the relationship between diet quality and resilience at different ages. Our study aims to examine the association between diet quality and resilience across the stages of adulthood. Using Stanfords’ WELL for Life (WELL) survey data, we conducted a cross-sectional study of diet quality, resilience, sociodemographic, perceived stress, lifestyle, and mental health factors among 6171 Bay Area adults. Diet quality was measured by the WELL Diet Score, which ranges from 0–120. A higher score indicates a better diet quality. Linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between the WELL Diet Score and overall resilience and within the following age groups: early young (18–24), late young (25–34), middle (35–49), and late adulthood (≥50). To test whether these associations varied by age groups, an age group by resilience interaction term was also examined. In the fully adjusted model, the WELL Diet Score was positively and significantly associated with overall resilience (all ages (β = 1.2 ± sd: 0.2, p < 0.001)) and within each age group (early young (β = 1.1 ± sd: 0.3, p < 0.001); late young (β = 1.2 ± sd: 0.3, p < 0.001); middle (β = 0.9 ± sd: 0.3, p < 0.001); and late adulthood (β = 1.0 ± sd: 0.3, p < 0.001)). Young adults demonstrated the strongest associations between diet quality and resilience. However, there were no significant age-by-resilience interactions. Diet quality may be positively associated with resilience at all stages of adulthood. Further research is needed to determine whether assessing and addressing resilience could inform the development of more effective dietary interventions, particularly in young adults.
Recommended Citation
Springfield-Trice, Sparkle; Joyce, Cara; Wu, Yi-Hsuan; Hsing, Ann W.; Cunanan, Kristen; and Gardner, Christopher, "Diet Quality and Resilience through Adulthood: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the WELL for Life Study" (2024). Biostatistics Collaborative Core: Faculty Publications and Other Works. 5.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/biostatistics_facpubs/5
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), 2024.
Comments
Author Posting © The Author(s), 2024. This article is posted here by permission of MDPI for personal use and redistribution. This article was published open access in Nutrients, Vol. 16, Iss. 11 (May 31, 2024), https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16111724.