Serum 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D3 Status in Adolescents With Anxiety Disorders: A Case‐Control and Vitamin D Supplementation Substudy

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the correlation between serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D3 (25‐(OH)D3) levels and anxiety disorders in adolescents, and to assess the potential impact of vitamin D status on pediatric anxiety disorders, thereby providing clinical evidence for diagnosis and treatment. Methods This study included 124 adolescents with anxiety disorders who visited the pediatric outpatient department of Jingzhou First People's Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 as the experimental group and 131 healthy adolescents who underwent physical examinations during the same period as the control group. Serum 25‐(OH)D3 levels were compared between the two groups. Simple linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the predictive capacity of 25‐(OH)D3 levels on anxiety scores in the experimental group. Additionally, 86 adolescents with anxiety disorders and 25‐(OH)D deficiency or insufficiency in the experimental group received vitamin D supplementation for 12 weeks, and changes in anxiety scores before and after supplementation were analyzed to assess the effect of 25‐(OH)D3 levels on anxiety disorders. Results The mean serum 25‐(OH)D3 level in the experimental group [(16.48 ± 6.53) ng/ml] was significantly lower than that in the control group [(22.95 ± 7.25) ng/ml], with a statistically significant difference ( p < 0.05). The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency was higher in the experimental group (69.35%) than in the control group (36.64%), with a statistically significant difference ( p < 0.05). Furthermore, in the experimental group, anxiety scores were negatively correlated with serum 25‐(OH)D 3 levels, indicating that lower 25‐(OH)D 3 levels were associated with higher anxiety scores. After vitamin D supplementation, adolescents with anxiety disorders and 25‐(OH)D deficiency or insufficiency exhibited reduced anxiety scores. Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency may represent a potential risk factor for anxiety disorders in adolescents and demonstrate some predictive value for these conditions. Vitamin D supplementation could potentially alleviate anxiety symptoms in adolescents.