The Relationship between Body Size and Depressed Mood: Findings from a Sample of African American Middle School Girls

Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among African American Children and Adolescents: Risk Factors, Health Outcomes, and Prevention/Intervention Strategies

This paper examines the biological, psychosocial, cultural, and obesogenic environmental factors that might account for the high prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among African American young children (aged 2-11) and adolescents (aged 12-19). Research findings are discussed on the practices associated with the development of childhood obesity including maternal overweight and obesity, physiological predisposition, infant feeding practices, breastfeeding, rapid infant weight gain, sleep disruption, low nutrition diets, physical inactivity, and sedentary behavior. The psychological correlates of overweight and obesity are discussed. Consistent with the obesogenic arguments, this paper examines the development of childhood obesity as a function of socioeconomic disadvantages, social inequities, urban environmental contingencies, and media food product messages. The potential deleterious health consequences of overweight and obesity are discussed. There is an examination of the structural-level and individual-level prevention/intervention strategies necessary for sustainable declines in childhood overweight and obesity.

Longitudinal bidirectional relations between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms among Black adolescents: A cross-lagged panel analysis

Objective

To assess the variation in body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms by weight status and the bi-directional relations between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms by weight status among Black adolescents.

Methods

A sample of 153 Black adolescents aged 12–13 years, either overweight/obese (n = 57, 37%) or healthy weight (n = 96, 63%), were recruited and evaluated three times over two years (T1, T2 and T3). Measured weight and height were converted to age and sex-specific BMI z-score; body dissatisfaction was measured with silhouettes, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I). Bidirectional relations were assessed with cross-lagged panel analyses, accounting for stability over time and contemporary correlations.

Results

Body dissatisfaction was higher among the overweight/obese group than the healthy weight group. No significant differences were found for depressive symptoms by weight status. Among the overweight/obese group, there were bidirectional relations: antecedent body dissatisfaction predicted subsequent depressive symptoms (T1-T2: β = 0.42, SE = 0.11, p<0.001; T2-T3: β = 0.36, SE = 0.09, p<0.001) and antecedent depressive symptoms predicted subsequent body dissatisfaction (T1-T2: β = 0.25, SE = 0.10, p = 0.012; T2-T3: β = 0.17, SE = 0.08, p = 0.045). Among the healthy weight group, there was no relation in either direction.

Conclusions

Elevated body dissatisfaction among the overweight/obese group supports weight-based stigma as a stressor among Black adolescents. The bidirectional relations between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms among the overweight/obese group support the internalization of thinness idea and negative self-appraisal associated with depressive symptoms. Prevention of both body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms may be mutually beneficial among Black adolescents with overweight/obesity.

Ethnic–racial identity content and the development of depressive symptoms among Latino adolescents

The current study examined the concurrent and prospective associations of ethnic–racial identity content (i.e., centrality, private regard, and public regard) and depressive symptomatology among Latino adolescents. Data were drawn from a longitudinal study of Latino adolescents (N= 148, 53.4% girls) who were 13–14 years old at Wave 1. Results indicated that higher ethnic–racial centrality at Waves 1 and 2 predicted fewer depressive symptoms at Waves 2 and 3, respectively. In addition, more positive private regard at Wave 1 predicted fewer depressive symptoms at Wave 2, and more positive public regard at Wave 2 predicted fewer symptoms at Wave 3. Thus, ethnic–racial identity content may serve as a cultural protective factor that is linked to diminished depressive symptomatology among Latino youth.

Sad and lonely: body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls

Purpose To further understand the association between body dissatisfaction and sadness/loneliness among adolescent girls, we examine how this association, as reported by pre-teen and adolescent girls, is mediated or moderated by the quality of peer and family relationships. Methods Our data are from the Health Behavior of School-Aged Children 2009-2010, a nationally representative survey of school-aged children in the US. We analyze a sample of 5658 girls in Grades 5 through 10. We utilize ordinary least squares (OLS) regression techniques and adjust for the complex sampling design. We explore how the link between body dissatisfaction and sadness/loneliness is mediated or moderated by family and peer relationships and also include controls for age, race, media exposure, and physical health. Results We find that body dissatisfaction is predictive of sadness/loneliness for girls at all grade levels and that the quality of peer and family relationships mediates 27%-38% of this association, particularly among early adolescent girls. Positive peer relationships also moderate or help mitigate the association between body dissatisfaction and sadness/loneliness among pre-teens. Conclusion Our findings underscore the association between body dissatisfaction and sadness/loneliness among early adolescent girls. In addition, our results highlight the importance of quality peer and family relationships in terms of how girls think about their bodies and respond emotionally to them. To evaluate feelings of sadness and loneliness among early adolescent girls, health care professionals need to consider not only body dissatisfaction but also the context of peer and family relationships.

Protective Mechanisms for Depression among Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth: Empirical Findings, Issues, and Recommendations

We (1) review empirical studies that report findings regarding putative protective mechanisms when exposed to risk of depression in African American and Hispanic adolescents; (2) identify key protective mechanisms for different risk contexts that garner empirical support; (3) synthesize the mechanisms identified as protective against depression among racial/ethnic minority adolescents; and (4) discuss improved methods for advancing understanding of resilience against depression in minority youth. The studies were selected from PsycINFO searches that met the following inclusion criteria: participants between 12 and 21 years of age, inclusions of racial/ethnic minority members, examining protection through an interaction with a risk factor, and outcome measures of depression, depressed mood, or depressive symptomatology. We found 39 eligible studies; 13 of which included multiple racial/ethnic groups. The following were supported as protective mechanisms, at least preliminarily, for at least one racial/ethnic group and in at least one risk context: employment, extracurricular activities, father-adolescent closeness, familism, maternal support, attending predominately minority schools, neighborhood composition, non-parent support, parental inductive reasoning, religiosity, self-esteem, social activities, and positive early teacher relationships. To investigate protective mechanisms more comprehensively and accurately across individual, social, and community levels of influence, we recommend incorporating multilevel modeling or multilevel growth curve analyses and large diverse samples.

Body Size and Social Self-Image among Adolescent African American Girls: The Moderating Influence of Family Racial Socialization

Social psychologists have amassed a large body of work demonstrating that overweight African American adolescent girls have generally positive self-images, particularly when compared with overweight females from other racial and ethnic groups. Some scholars have proposed that elements of African American social experience may contribute to the maintenance of these positive self-views. In this paper, we evaluate these arguments using data drawn from a panel study of socio-economically diverse African American adolescent girls living in Iowa and Georgia. We analyze the relationship between body size and social self-image over three waves of data, starting when the girls were 10 years of age and concluding when they were approximately 14. We find that heavier respondents hold less positive social self-images but also find that being raised in a family that practices racial socialization moderates this relationship.