Hoffmann MS, Brunoni AR, Stringaris A, et al. - Anxiety and depression are not consistently associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) across studies, this is possibly due to high correlation between anxiety and depression. Researchers sought to disentangle the association of these emotional conditions with MetS, using bifactor models, modeling both general and specific aspects between anxiety and depression. They used the baseline data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (n = 13,584) to test bifactor models. The Clinical Interview Schedule - Revised was used to assess anxiety and depression. They measured MetS through assessment of its continuous components. Findings suggest that an internalizing spectrum and residual fear and somatic specific factors can allow modelling of anxiety and depression. In a structural equation model, they noted correlation of internalizing spectrum and fear with MetS after adjusting for age, gender, income and smoking status. Biological and behavioral mechanisms linked with MetS may be shared by symptoms of anxiety and depression.