Diet Quality as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Depression Among Family Caregivers of Patients with Chronic Illness in Saudi Arabia

Objective The aim of this research was to investigate the correlation between caregivers' perceived stress and depression and examine the mediating role of quality of diet on this relationship. Methods A cross-sectional survey was performed in Medical City from January to August 2022 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Utilizing the Stress Scale, Anxiety and Depression, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II questionnaire, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, researchers assessed levels of perceived stress, diet quality, and depression. The 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. The researcher conveniently sampled 127 patients, with 119 responding, a response rate of 93.7%. A significant correlation between depression and perceived stress was observed (beta = 0.438, p < 0.001). Diet quality mediated the relationship between depression and perceived stress (beta = -0.187, p = 0.018). The importance of the indirect effect of perceived stress through diet quality was supported by the outcomes of the non-parametric bootstrapping method (95% bootstrap CI = 0.010, 0.080). The findings revealed that the indirect influence of diet quality explained 15.8% of the overall variation in depression. Conclusions These findings help clarify the mediating effects of diet quality on the relationship between perceived stress and depression.