Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Psychiatry Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psychres Pesticide exposure, tobacco use, poor self-perceived health and presence of chronic disease are determinants of depressive symptoms among coffee growers from Southeast Brazil Catarine Lima Conti a, ⁎ , Wagner Miranda Barbosa a , João Batista Pavesi Simão b , Adriana Madeira Álvares-da-Silva a a Program of Post-Graduation in Biotechnology/Renorbio, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Alegre, ES, Brazil b Coordination of Technology and Coffee Growing Course, Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, Alegre, ES, Brazil ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Depressive symptoms BDI-II Rural worker Mental health ABSTRACT The lifestyle and other factors associated with the appearance of several health conditions that affect quality of life in rural zone is an issue that has been increasingly explored. Brazil is the largest coffee-producing nation in the world and has been a considerable consumer of pesticides since 2008. The aim of the present study was to investigate factors that could be contributing to the appearance of depressive symptoms in rural workers. Two hundred twenty male volunteers from nine cities in Southeast Brazil completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) questionnaire about depressive symptoms and provided other information about socio-demographic characteristics and additional confounding factors. The adjusted multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that pesticide exposure, tobacco use, poor self-perceived health and the presence of chronic disease contribute as risk factors for the appearance of depressive symptoms at a level above ups and downs considered normal in the BDI- II. This survey contributes to the search for solutions to improve quality of life and mental health in the rural living to the extent that social determinants of depression are being investigated. 1. Introduction The lifestyle and factors associated with the appearance of several conditions that affect the quality of life in the country is an issue that has been increasingly explored (Gambin et al., 2015; Pignatti and Castro, 2008, 2010; Tavares et al., 2015). Rural myths could make us believe that country life has only health benefits; however, studies have shown that rural living is far from the tranquility of “rural existence” (AIHW, 1998; Hansen, 1987). Work and life conditions are very precarious, and the monoculture practiced in the world of agribusiness is an important source of distress and illness (Scopinho, 2010). Brazil is the largest coffee-producing na- tion in the world, and historically, for over 150 years, it has been the highest global producer of coffee beans (USDA, 2016). The Southeast region included in the present study belongs to the state of Espírito Santo, where coffee growing is the main and most traditional agri- cultural activity. Espírito Santo represents the second largest coffee producer in Brazil and the first worldwide in Robusta production (Cetcaf, 2014; USDA, 2016). As a consequence of peculiar life style, researches have described the presence of depressive symptoms in agricultural workers compro- mising their mental health (Phillips and Deshpande, 2016; Rayens and Reed, 2014). In the present study, we investigated determinant factors that could be contributing to the appearance of these symptoms, that substantially compromise quality of life (Cruz et al., 2010), and, de- pending on the severity and intensity, its impact on general welfare can be up to 23 times greater than other physical diseases (Williams et al., 1995). Depression changes the way one sees the world, perceives rea- lity, comprehends things and expresses emotions. Therefore, it is con- sidered a disease that affects the entire body and human experience without fragmentation between the biological, mental and social issues. Risk factors were evaluated through a multivariate logistic model and these data may contribute to the search for public health policies to improve mental and general health of rural residents. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.11.063 Received 14 March 2017; Received in revised form 13 November 2017; Accepted 22 November 2017 ⁎ Correspondence to: Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. Alto Universitário, S/N, Caixa Postal 16, 29500-000 Alegre, ES, Brasil. E-mail address: catarineconti@hotmail.com (C.L. Conti). Psychiatry Research 260 (2018) 187–192 0165-1781/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T