For example, a 2011 study in Psychiatry Research found people experiencing post-traumatic stress had a higher likelihood of poor heart health, while a 2018 study in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine suggested prolonged mental stress can increase heart disease risk.
Federal statistics show about 8% of U.S. adults had depression in 2019, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of U.S. adults who experienced depression or anxiety jumped from 36.4% to 41.5%, with the highest spike among people ages 18-29, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Previous research has focused mainly on older adults who are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease. But “mood disorders like depression and anxiety commonly emerge in younger adults, so I was interested in seeing whether they’re associated with cardiovascular health in this age group,” said lead researcher Sierra Patterson, a clinical research coordinator in the department of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
She and colleagues analyzed self-reported data from 882 young adults. They classified the participants as having poor, intermediate or ideal levels of Life’s Simple 7, a term coined by the AHA for a collection of lifestyle targets shown to help achieve ideal heart and brain health. The seven metrics are blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, physical activity, diet, weight and not smoking.
The finding showed 134 participants – about 15% – had moderate to severe anxiety. They were less likely to have optimal levels of physical activity, smoking and weight, and a cardiovascular health score 0.91 points lower, compared to those without the condition. Similarly, 15% of participants had moderate to severe depression and scored worse on the same metrics, as well as cholesterol and blood pressure.
“These findings give (perspective on) a different demographic and suggest that we should start looking at both depression/anxiety and cardiovascular health in younger adults,” Patterson said. The findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.