Differences in mental health and quality of life for Mediterranean diet adherence were tested using one-way ANOVA. Results: Adherence to Mediterranean diet was low, with no participants having a high adherence, 29.6% moderate adherence, and 70.4% low adherence. Lower Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with higher depression (8.08 vs. 12.09, p ¼ 0.042) and anxiety scores (4.92 vs. 8.31, p ¼ 0.014). Conversely, higher scores on the AQoL Happiness (50.78 vs. 34.94, p ¼

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... , Coping (52.43 vs. 39.40, p ¼ 0.020) and Mental Health scales (60.60 vs. 48.48, p ¼ 0.005) were significantly associated with higher Mediterranean diet adherence. Conclusions: This study found that low adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with poorer mental health outcomes. This proposes a target for dietary intervention to improve mental health. We are conducting a randomised controlled trial to investigate this. Funding source(s): NHMRC.