PD072 - ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BASELINE MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO INTERMITTENT FASTING

PD072

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN BASELINE MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO INTERMITTENT FASTING

K. Amendola^1,*, R. Ohayon², L. Harris³, A. Shea⁴, A. Christoforou¹, A. Karelis⁵, J. Heisz¹

¹Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, ²Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, ³Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, ⁴Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ⁵Exercise Science, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Rationale: Intermittent fasting (IF) is one of the most widely practiced dietary approaches. However, there is limited research on its psychological effects, especially in individuals experiencing symptoms of psychological distress. Psychological distress has been linked to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation and to changes in mood, appetite, and sleep, suggesting that baseline mental health may influence responses to fasting. This study examined the associations between baseline mental health and subjective responses to time-restricted feeding (TRF; 16-hour fast) and alternate-day fasting (ADF; 24-hour fast).

Methods: Twenty-three healthy females (M_age = 18.3 ± 0.4 years) completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) at baseline. In a randomized crossover design, participants completed three days of TRF and ADF, separated by a 4-day washout period. Daily measures included total mood disturbance (Profile of Mood States 2), hunger (Hunger-Satiety Scale), sleep quality (Consensus Sleep Diary), and diet satisfaction (5-point Likert scale). Pearson correlations examined associations between baseline DASS-21 scores with the average change in mood, hunger, and sleep post-fasting relative to baseline, and with mean diet satisfaction scores, for each protocol.

Results: Baseline mean scores were 7.7 ± 7.2 (range = 0-26) for depression, 6.9 ± 6.1 (range = 0-26) for anxiety, and 9.6 ± 6.1 (range = 0-20) for stress. No significant associations were observed between baseline depression, anxiety or stress scores and changes in mood, hunger, sleep, or diet satisfaction for either protocol (all p > .05).

Conclusion: In this preliminary sample of healthy females, baseline mental health was not associated with worse subjective responses to short-term IF and may not meaningfully influence short-term psychological tolerability of IF. However, larger studies in clinical populations are needed.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared