Overweight, body image, and depression in Asian and Hispanic adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively investigate associations between overweight and depressive symptoms in Asian and Hispanic adolescents.


METHODS
Data included 780 Hispanic and 375 Asian students. Structural equation model was used to prospectively explore moderation effects of gender, ethnicity, and acculturation on associations of overweight, body image dissatisfaction, and depressive symptoms.


RESULTS
Significant mediation effect was found only in Asian girls (mediation effect = 0.16, P < 0.05) and girls with high acculturation (mediation effect = 0.17, P < 0.05). Overweight significantly predicted higher body image dissatisfaction, which in turn was significantly related to depressive symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings help understanding the association of overweight and experience of depressive symptoms.
Xie
Bin
B
School of Community and Global Health, Claremont Graduate University, San Dimas, CA 91773, USA. bin.xie@cgu.edu
Unger
Jennifer B
JB
Gallaher
Peggy
P
Johnson
C Anderson
CA
Wu
Qiaobing
Q
Chou
Chih-Ping
CP
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D044466:Asian People; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires