Background:

Psychological stress and depressive symptoms are variables associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Aim:

To determine the longitudinal association between psychological stress, depressive symptoms and MetS, and whether these variables predict MetS and its component trajectories.

Material and Methods:

Four hundred and twenty-three participants aged 44 ± 9 years (59% women), free of cardiovascular disease at baseline were enrolled into the Chilean study of psychological stress, obesity and MetS. Participants were followed-up for three years (three waves). Each year, they completed psychological questionnaires, anthropometric variables were measured, and blood samples were obtained.

Results:

Hierarchical linear regression showed that chronic psychological stress at baseline predicted the total number of MetS components (MetS score) during the third assessment wave (β = 0.147; p < 0.01). Growth curve modeling allowed to determine that participants who scored +1 standard deviation (SD) at baseline over the mean in psychological stress (βchronic stress = 0.903; 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.065; 1.741), and depressive symptoms (βdepressive symptoms = 2.482; 95% CI = 0.040; 4.923) had a higher waist circumference trajectory, as compared to those scoring −1 SD above the mean.

Conclusions:

Chronic psychological stress is longitudinally associated with the MetS score. Further, psychological stress and depressive symptoms at baseline predicted elevated MetS score trajectories, and a highest waist circumference.