{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T15:48:49Z","timestamp":1782488929620,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782432000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Depressive symptoms are common in later life and may be related to dietary behaviours. However, dietary habits and depressive symptoms may influence each other, and cross-sectional data cannot establish temporal direction. This study examined the cross-sectional association between a Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS)-based diet quality score and screening-defined elevated depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This cross-sectional study used data from the 2018 CLHLS. Dietary behaviour was assessed using self-reported intake frequency of 13 food groups, with items coded so that higher values indicated higher intake frequency. A CLHLS-based diet quality score was then constructed. Elevated depressive symptoms were assessed using the CESD-10. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between diet quality and elevated depressive symptoms. False discovery rate correction was applied in exploratory food-group analyses. Sensitivity analyses included multiple imputation with 20 datasets and a modified CESD-10 score excluding the sleep-quality item.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Among 15,874 participants in the 2018 CLHLS, 12,069 adults aged 60\u202fyears or older had complete dietary and depressive symptom data. In the fully adjusted complete-case model (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      =\u202f9,086), each five-point increase in the CLHLS-based diet quality score was associated with lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms (OR\u202f=\u202f0.877, 95% CI: 0.844\u20130.912,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001). Although statistically significant, the association was modest in magnitude, and explanatory power was limited. The multiple-imputation analysis yielded a similar estimate (pooled OR\u202f=\u202f0.890, 95% CI: 0.860\u20130.922,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt;\u202f0.001). The association also remained when depressive symptoms were analysed using the modified CESD-10 score. In exploratory food-group analyses, higher reported intake frequencies of fruit and vegetables were associated with lower odds of elevated depressive symptoms after adjustment.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The CLHLS-based diet quality score was weakly associated with screening-defined elevated depressive symptoms. These findings should be interpreted as descriptive and hypothesis-generating, rather than causal or sufficient to support clinical or public health dietary recommendations. Longitudinal studies using validated dietary assessment tools are needed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1833110","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T15:05:37Z","timestamp":1782486337000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Cross-sectional association between a CLHLS-based diet quality score and screening-defined elevated depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Zhaoquan","family":"Jiang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University","place":["Jinzhou, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhaoxu","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University","place":["Jinzhou, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingyue","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University","place":["Jinzhou, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huijun","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University","place":["Jinzhou, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shixue","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Editorial Department (Social Sciences Edition), Jinzhou Medical University","place":["Jinzhou, Liaoning, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"World Social Report 2023: Leaving No One behind in an Ageing World","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Mental health of older 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