The Critical Role of Resilience in the Onset of Major Depressive Disorder and Its Influence Through Eating Behaviors and Psychological Needs

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), a condition characterized by an undertreated trajectory and frequently marked by a chronic course, is broadly acknowledged to be a critical public health issue worldwide. While substantial evidence is available showing the significant role of resilience in depression, the current understanding of mediating factors influencing this relationship in the early stages of MDD remains limited. To fill this gap in the literature, in the present study, we explored the effect of eating behaviors and basic psychological needs in a cohort of individuals newly diagnosed with MDD. The model was tested using a sample of a total of 328 Turkish individuals newly diagnosed with MDD (87% women, <i>M</i>_<i>age</i> = 31.51 ± 11.03 years). The following four psychometrically sound instruments were employed to collect data immediately following diagnosis: Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS), and Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ). After controlling demographic variables, the results confirmed that resilience is significantly negatively associated with depression. Uncontrolled eating behavior and autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs were found to be four mediators and partially mediated the relation of resilience with depression. The results also revealed that cognitive restriction and emotional eating behaviors did not significantly mediate this relationship. These findings suggest that early interventions targeting eating behaviors, such as promoting healthy eating patterns and addressing unmet psychological needs could strengthen resilience and reduce the risk of chronic depression in individuals newly diagnosed with MDD.