TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of psychological distress in the relationship between lifestyle and compulsivity
T2 - An analysis of independent, bi-national samples
AU - Brierley, Mary Ellen E.
AU - Albertella, Lucy
AU - Rotaru, Kristian
AU - Destree, Louise
AU - Thompson, Emma M.
AU - Liu, Chang
AU - Christensen, Erynn
AU - Lowe, Amelia
AU - Segrave, Rebecca A.
AU - Richardson, Karyn E.
AU - Kayayan, Edouard
AU - Chamberlain, Samuel R.
AU - Grant, Jon E.
AU - Lee, Rico S.C.
AU - Hughes, Sam
AU - Yücel, Murat
AU - Fontenelle, Leonardo F.
N1 - Funding Information:
M.E.B. is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. L.D. is supported by an Australian Government RTP Scholarship and a Monash Graduate Excellence Scholarship. S.R.C.’s research was funded by a Wellcome Clinical Fellowship (110049/Z/15/A and 110049/Z/15/Z). He previously consulted for Promentis and receives a stipend for editorial work at Elsevier. R.S.C.L. was funded by an NHMRC Investigator Grant from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF; #APP1193946). M.Y.’s role on this article was funded through a National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowship (NHMRC; #APP1117188). M.Y. also receives funding from other NHMRC schemes, Monash University, and Australian Government funding bodies such as the Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Defence Science and Technology (DST), and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (DIIS). He has also received philanthropic donations from the David Winston Turner Endowment Fund, Wilson Foundation (which supported this study), as well as payments in relation to court-, expert witness-, and/or expert review-reports. L.F.F. is supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (# 302526/2018-8), Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (#E 26/203.052/2017), the D’Or Institute of Research and Education, and the David Winston Turner Endowment Fund. None of the above funding bodies were involved in the study design, management, data analysis and interpretation of results, or writing of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - BackgroundPoor mental health is a state of psychological distress that is influenced by lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet, and physical activity. Compulsivity is a transdiagnostic phenotype cutting across a range of mental illnesses including obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance-related and addictive disorders, and is also influenced by lifestyle. Yet, how lifestyle relates to compulsivity is presently unknown, but important to understand to gain insights into individual differences in mental health. We assessed (a) the relationships between compulsivity and diet quality, sleep quality, and physical activity, and (b) whether psychological distress statistically contributes to these relationships.MethodsWe collected harmonized data on compulsivity, psychological distress, and lifestyle from two independent samples (Australian n = 880 and US n = 829). We used mediation analyses to investigate bidirectional relationships between compulsivity and lifestyle factors, and the role of psychological distress.ResultsHigher compulsivity was significantly related to poorer diet and sleep. Psychological distress statistically mediated the relationship between poorer sleep quality and higher compulsivity, and partially statistically mediated the relationship between poorer diet and higher compulsivity.ConclusionsLifestyle interventions in compulsivity may target psychological distress in the first instance, followed by sleep and diet quality. As psychological distress links aspects of lifestyle and compulsivity, focusing on mitigating and managing distress may offer a useful therapeutic approach to improve physical and mental health. Future research may focus on the specific sleep and diet patterns which may alter compulsivity over time to inform lifestyle targets for prevention and treatment of functionally impairing compulsive behaviors.
AB - BackgroundPoor mental health is a state of psychological distress that is influenced by lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet, and physical activity. Compulsivity is a transdiagnostic phenotype cutting across a range of mental illnesses including obsessive-compulsive disorder, substance-related and addictive disorders, and is also influenced by lifestyle. Yet, how lifestyle relates to compulsivity is presently unknown, but important to understand to gain insights into individual differences in mental health. We assessed (a) the relationships between compulsivity and diet quality, sleep quality, and physical activity, and (b) whether psychological distress statistically contributes to these relationships.MethodsWe collected harmonized data on compulsivity, psychological distress, and lifestyle from two independent samples (Australian n = 880 and US n = 829). We used mediation analyses to investigate bidirectional relationships between compulsivity and lifestyle factors, and the role of psychological distress.ResultsHigher compulsivity was significantly related to poorer diet and sleep. Psychological distress statistically mediated the relationship between poorer sleep quality and higher compulsivity, and partially statistically mediated the relationship between poorer diet and higher compulsivity.ConclusionsLifestyle interventions in compulsivity may target psychological distress in the first instance, followed by sleep and diet quality. As psychological distress links aspects of lifestyle and compulsivity, focusing on mitigating and managing distress may offer a useful therapeutic approach to improve physical and mental health. Future research may focus on the specific sleep and diet patterns which may alter compulsivity over time to inform lifestyle targets for prevention and treatment of functionally impairing compulsive behaviors.
KW - compulsivity
KW - diet
KW - lifestyle
KW - obsessive-compulsive
KW - Psychological distress
KW - sleep
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124309634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1092852921001048
DO - 10.1017/S1092852921001048
M3 - Article
C2 - 34895362
AN - SCOPUS:85124309634
SN - 1092-8529
VL - 28
SP - 164
EP - 173
JO - CNS Spectrums
JF - CNS Spectrums
IS - 2
ER -
