Am J Psy: The most comprehensive study to date! It was found that social relationships were the most important protective factor for depression.

Introduction: Many factors in social, sleep, media, diet, and exercise-related areas are associated with depression, even among high-risk groups.
depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, until now researchers have focused on only a few risk and protective factors, often involving only one or two areas.
new study provides the most comprehensive description yet of the changeable factors that may affect the risk of depression.
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have identified a set of modifiable factors from more than 100 areas that may be important targets for preventing depression in adults.
in a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the team listed social relationships as the strongest protective factor for depression and suggested that reducing sedentary activities, such as watching TV and snoozing during the day, could also help reduce the risk of depression.
this, the researchers took a two-stage approach. The first phase of
was conducted using a database of more than 100,000 participants in the UK Biolibrary, a world-renowned adult cohort study that systematically scans for risk factors associated with depression risk, including social interactions, media use, sleep patterns, diet, physical activity and environmental factors.
method, called total association scanning (ExWAS), is similar to genome-wide association studies (GWAS) that have been widely used to identify genetic risk factors for disease.
phase ii used the strongest modifiable candidates from ExWAS and a technique called Mendel Randomization (MR) to investigate which factors might be causal to the risk of depression.
MR is a statistical method that treats genetic variation between people as a natural experiment to determine whether associations may reflect causation, not just correlation.
this two-stage approach allows MGH researchers to narrow the study to a smaller set of promising and potentially depressive target factors.
most obvious of these factors are the frequency with which they spend time with others, and the exchange of visits with family and friends, all of which highlight the important protective role of social and social cohesion.
, these factors are more important than ever in an age of social alienation and separation from family and friends.
even for individuals who are more susceptible to depression due to genetic susceptivity or early life trauma, there is a protective effect of social relationships.
, on the other hand, factors associated with the risk of depression include the amount of time spent watching TV, although further research is needed to determine whether the risk is due to exposure in the media itself or to sedentive time in front of the television.
, perhaps even more surprising, the trend of daytime naps and regular multivitamin use appears to be linked to the risk of depression, although more research is needed to determine how they may work.
MGH study demonstrates an important new approach that can be used to assess variables and use this evidence to prioritize the objectives of preventive interventions for depression.
say depression has taken a huge toll on individuals, families and society, but little is known about how to prevent it.
they have shown that it is now possible to address these widespread public health issues through large-scale data-based approaches that were not even available years ago.
they hope the work will inspire further efforts to develop actionable strategies to prevent depression.
two-stage approach to the study could also be used to guide the prevention of other health conditions.
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