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Depressive symptoms & perceived weight among middle-school students

Depressive symptoms & perceived weight among middle-school students. Lauren Whetstone Susan Morrissey Joe Garry Skip Cummings Department of Family Medicine. Introduction. 8% of adolescents suffer from depression Relationship between body weight and depressive symptoms inconclusive

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Depressive symptoms & perceived weight among middle-school students

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  1. Depressive symptoms & perceived weight among middle-school students Lauren Whetstone Susan Morrissey Joe Garry Skip Cummings Department of Family Medicine

  2. Introduction • 8% of adolescents suffer from depression • Relationship between body weight and depressive symptoms inconclusive • Some studies show relationship between perceivedbodyweight and depressive symptoms • Racial differences unknown • We found that weight perception was a significant predictor of suicidal thoughts and actions (2000) and depressive symptoms (2001)

  3. Purpose • Explore the relationship between perceived body weight and depressive symptoms • Focus on potential race and gender differences

  4. Design & Participants • Cross sectional survey - 2001 • CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey • Middle School Version • Participants • 2,126 middle school students • 22.5% African American males (n=478) • 31.5% White males (n=668) • 18.7% African American females (n=398) • 27.3% White females (n=579) • 4 eastern North Carolina counties

  5. Outcome Measures • Dependent variable • Depressive Symptoms Index (DSI) • Independent variables • Body Mass Index (BMI) • Calculated from self-reported height and weight • Categorized into normal weight or overweight (greater than the 85th percentile for age and gender) • Perceived body weight • Categorized into under/normal weight or overweight • Race • African American or White • Gender

  6. Weight Status by BMI * p < .05, *** p < .001

  7. Perceived Weight Status ** p < .01

  8. Normal weight BMI * p < .05

  9. Overweight BMI ** p < .01, *** p < .001

  10. Depressive symptoms index • Quality of life • Feel good about self • Feeling sad or hopeless every day for 2 weeks or more in a row • Seriously thought about killing yourself • Ever made a plan to kill yourself • Ever tried to kill yourself Range 0 – 24 Internal consistency (=.72)

  11. Depressive symptoms Variable Mean DSI Score BMI Normal 3.91 Overweight 4.49 Perceived body weight * Under/normal 3.85 Overweight 4.90 Race African American 4.28 White 3.95 Gender * Male 3.75 Female 4.46 * p < .05

  12. Mean DSI Score by Weight Perception, Race, and Gender

  13. Conclusions • Significant relationship between body weight perception and depressive symptoms • This relationship does not vary by • Race • Sex • Self-reported height and weight (BMI)

  14. Future Directions • Measurement of height and weight • Confirm findings with additional measures of childhood depression • Expanded measurement of weight perception/body image • Explore the development of weight perception

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