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Causal relationships between depression, anxiety, and myopia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Eye volume 39, pages 2204–2210 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the causal relationship between depression, anxiety, and myopia.

Methods

The multivariable Mendelian randomization (MR) design using summary statistics from independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) was employed. The anxiety and depression, were used as exposures, and myopia was used as the outcome. Genetic variants associated with depression were derived using GWAS summary statistics from the FinnGen consortium database. Genetic variants associated with anxiety were derived from the Psychiatric Genomics consortium. The inverse-variance-weighted method was the main applied analytic tool and was complemented with comprehensive sensitivity analyses.

Results

A total of 21, 10 SNPs were selected as instrumental variables for depression and anxiety, respectively. Based on the IVW analysis, both depression (OR = 1.010, 95% CI = 1.002–1.018, P = 0.016) and anxiety (OR = 1.083, 95%CI = 1.022–1.149, P = 0.008) increased the risk of myopia. After adjusting in the multivariable MR, the IVW and Egger methods indicated that depression (OR = 1.004, 95%CI = 1.000–1.008, P = 0.030) or anxiety (OR = 1.004, 95%CI = 1.001–1.008, P = 0.026) was still associated with elevated risks of myopia.

Conclusions

The current study identified a causal relationship between anxiety, depression, and an increased risk of myopia. These observations suggest that when developing strategies to control myopia, it is also important to focus on the mental health of children. Further detailed research is needed to fully understand this issue.

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Fig. 1: Overview of the study design and instrument variable selection.
Fig. 2: Univariable MR analysis of depression, anxiety on myopia.
Fig. 3: Scatterplots and LOO analyses of MR estimates for depression, anxiety on myopia.

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Data availability

The datasets analysed during the current study are available in the FinnGen consortium (https://r10.finngen.fi/), Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26754954/), and MRC IEU OpenGWAS (https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/datasets/ukb-b-6353/).

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Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge the participants and investigators of the FinnGen study.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 82070994, 82371089), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant number 2022YFC3502503).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Shengsong Xu, Xiao Wang, Jinyi Xu.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Shengsong Xu, Xiao Wang, Jinyi Xu, Xianghua Tang, Wenlong Hao, Chuqi Xiang, Xingyu Lei, Mengyi Wang & Xiao Yang

  2. Shenzhen Eye Hospital, Shenzhen Eye Medical Center, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China

    Shengsong Xu

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Contributions

Shengsong Xu: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Data curation, Formal Analysis; Xiao Wang: Data curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – original draft; Jinyi Xu: Data curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – original draft; Xianghua Tang: Formal Analysis, Visualization; Wenlong Hao: Resources, Visualization; Chuqi Xiang: Data curation, Formal Analysis; Xingyu Lei: Data curation, Formal Analysis; Mengyi Wang: Supervision, Writing – review & editing; Xiao Yang: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

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Correspondence to Mengyi Wang or Xiao Yang.

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Xu, S., Wang, X., Xu, J. et al. Causal relationships between depression, anxiety, and myopia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Eye 39, 2204–2210 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-025-03841-y

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