Do yoga and meditation moderate the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms? Analysis of a national cross-sectional survey of Australian women.
Romy Lauche, Dennis Anheyer, Lisa A Uebelacker, David Sibbritt, Jon Adams, Holger Cramer
Frontiers in psychology January 1, 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1218976 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAmong 7,186 Australian women aged 36-43, 27.5% practiced yoga or meditation. Perceived stress partially explained the link between negative life events and depressive symptoms, but yoga/meditation did not reduce that stress. Instead, yoga/meditation directly weakened the connection between negative life events and depression, acting as a buffer. Social support and optimism also moderated the stress-depression link. The findings suggest yoga/meditation may help protect against depression after negative events, though the mechanism remains unclear.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Cross-sectional analysis of a longitudinal cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 7,186 |
| Population | Australian women aged 36-43 years |
| Intervention | yoga/meditation |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Coping Negative life events Stress |
| Key finding | Yoga/meditation practice moderated the direct association between negative life events and depressive symptoms, dampening the influence of negative life events on depression. |
Abstract
This study aims to examine the role of yoga/meditation in the relationship between negative life events, stress and depression. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) surveyed 7,186 women aged 36-43 years (mean age 39.2 years; 57.2% university degree) in 2015. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to examine whether yoga/meditation practice moderated those relationships. Yoga/meditation was practiced by 27.5% of participants, 33.2% reported negative life events in the past 12 months, and 24% had clinical depression. Perceived stress partially mediated the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms (B = 6.28; 95%CI 5.65; 6.92). Social support (B = -0.38; 95%CI -0.54; -0.23) and optimism (B = -0.25;95%CI -0.31; -0.18) moderated the association between stress and depressive symptoms. Yoga/meditation practice moderated the direct association between negative life events and depressive symptoms (B = -0.92; 95%CI -1.67; -0.18). Yoga/meditation use was a significant moderator of the relationship between negative life events and depression. Yoga/mediation use did not act via reducing perceived stress, but instead was found to dampen the influence of negative life events on depression directly. More research on how yoga has an impact on depression is warranted.