ArticleHuman molecular genetics2021
Higher adiposity and mental health: causal inference using Mendelian randomization.
Article in Human molecular genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessment of bidirectional relationships between depression and rheumatoid arthritis among adults: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Clinical rheumatology · 2023Pooled it
- Genetic clusters of BMI reveal symptom-specific causal effects on depression.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Strengths-based resilience: the biopsychosocial factors that differentiate 12-year mental well-being trajectories following adverse childhood experiences.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Causal inference in psychiatric research: how to critically evaluate and interpret mendelian randomization studies.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Assessing the association between combined oral contraceptive use, selected biomarkers, and depressive episodes among premenopausal women: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2026Article
- Resting-state brain dynamics are associated with body fat percentage and sympathetic outflow in healthy adults.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2026Article
- A study of mental health status and its influencing factors in normal weight obesity population.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Genetic associations and candidate functional genes linking depression and obesity: a multi-omics integrative study.Frontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- The interactive roles between coping tendency and focus on COVID-19 information time in Adolescent Obesity.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Evidence of bidirectional relationship between type 2 diabetes and depression; a Mendelian randomization study.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Genetic susceptibility to depression and risk of cardiometabolic diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 Mendelian randomisation studies.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obesity: Overlapping Neuroendocrine, Metabolic, and Behavioral Pathways.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Feasibility and acceptability of a pilot randomized trial of a single session of imagery rescripting targeting the primary consequences of negative experiences with eating and appearance.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Assessing the Uses, Benefits, and Limitations of Digital Technologies Used by Health Professionals in Supporting Obesity and Mental Health Communication: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Investigating the causal effects of childhood and adulthood adiposity on later life mental health outcome: a Mendelian randomization study.BMC medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Chronic Low Back Pain Causal Risk Factors Identified by Mendelian Randomization: a Cross-Sectional Cohort Analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Examining the association between the FTO gene and neuroticism reveals indirect effects on subjective well-being and problematic alcohol use.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- No relationship between male pubertal timing and depression - new insights from epidemiology and Mendelian randomization.Psychological medicine · 2024Article
- Associations of coping and health-related behaviors with medical students' well-being and performance during objective structured clinical examination.Scientific reports · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Higher adiposity is an established risk factor for psychiatric diseases including depression and anxiety. The associations between adiposity and depression may be explained by the metabolic consequences and/or by the psychosocial impact of higher adiposity. We performed one- and two- sample Mendelian randomization (MR) in up to 145 668 European participants from the UK Biobank to test for a causal effect of higher adiposity on 10 well-validated mental health and well-being outcomes derived using the Mental Health Questionnaire (MHQ). We used three sets of adiposity genetic instruments: (a) a set of 72 BMI genetic variants, (b) a set of 36 favourable adiposity variants and (c) a set of 38 unfavourable adiposity variants. We additionally tested causal relationships (1) in men and women separately, (2) in a subset of individuals not taking antidepressants and (3) in non-linear MR models. Two-sample MR provided evidence that a genetically determined one standard deviation (1-SD) higher BMI (4.6 kg/m2) was associated with higher odds of current depression [OR: 1.50, 95%CI: 1.15, 1.95] and lower well-being [ß: -0.15, 95%CI: -0.26, -0.04]. Findings were similar when using the metabolically favourable and unfavourable adiposity variants, with higher adiposity associated with higher odds of depression and lower well-being scores. Our study provides further evidence that higher BMI causes higher odds of depression and lowers well-being. Using genetics to separate out metabolic and psychosocial effects, our study suggests that in the absence of adverse metabolic effects higher adiposity remains causal to depression and lowers well-being.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.