Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine the correlation between caregivers' perceived stress and depression and the mediating role of diet in this relationship.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed from January to August 2022 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Utilizing the Stress Scale, the Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, researchers assessed levels of perceived stress, diet quality, and depression. A bootstrap approach and the SPSS PROCESS macro were used to assess the importance of the mediation effect. The target population was family caregivers of patients with chronic illness at Medical City in Saudi Arabia. Researchers surveyed a convenience sample of 127 patients, with 119 providing complete data for a response rate of 93.7%. A significant correlation was found between depression and perceived stress (β = 0.438, p < 0.001). Diet quality mediated the relationship between depression and perceived stress (β = 0.187, p = 0.018). The importance of the indirect effect of perceived stress through diet quality was supported by the nonparametric bootstrapping method (95% bootstrap CI = 0.010, 0.080). The indirect effect of diet quality explained 15.8% of the overall variation in depression.
Conclusions: These findings help to clarify the mediating effects of diet quality on the relationship between perceived stress and depression.
Keywords: COVID-19; depression; diet quality; mediation effect; perceived stress.