Associations Between Depression and Anxiety Symptoms and Retinal Vessel Caliber in Adolescents and Young Adults

Objective: Previous longitudinal studies suggest that depression and anxiety are associated with risk for cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to test whether an association between depression/anxiety symptoms and retinal vessel caliber, an indicator of subclinical cardiovascular risk, is apparent as early as adolescence and young adulthood.

Methods: Participants were 865 adolescents and young adults who participated in the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study and the Twin Eye Study in Tasmania. Participants completed assessments of depression/anxiety and somatic symptoms when they were M=16.5 years, and they underwent retinal imaging M=2.5 years later (range=2 years before to 7 years after the depression/anxiety assessment). Retinal vessel caliber was assessed using computer software. Results: Depression/anxiety symptoms were associated with wider retinal arteriolar caliber in this sample of adolescents and young adults (β=0.09, p=.016), even after adjusting for other cardiovascular risks (β=0.08, p=.025). Multiple regression analyses revealed that affective symptoms of depression/anxiety were associated with retinal vessel caliber independently of somatic symptoms.

Conclusions: Depression/anxiety symptoms are associated with measurable signs in the retinal microvasculature in early life, suggesting that pathological microvascular mechanisms linking depression/anxiety and cardiovascular disease may be operative from a young age.