title: Obesity, body dissatisfaction, and emotional well-being in early and late adolescence: findings from the project EAT study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We tested the hypothesis that, at two different stages of adolescence, impairment in emotional well-being associated with obesity is mediated by body dissatisfaction (BD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported measures of BD, emotional well-being (self-esteem, depressive mood), height and weight, and socio-demographic information were completed by the same female (n = 366) and male (n = 440) participants during early (mean age = 12.8 years) and late (17.3 years) adolescence. For each measure and at each time point, the hypothesis of mediation was tested using the methods suggested by Baron and Kenny (1986).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The conditions of complete mediation were satisfied in all the six cases for which an effect of obesity on emotional well-being was observed. That is, in each of these cases, obesity was no longer associated with lower self-esteem or with higher depressive mood after the effects of BD were statistically controlled. Among females, there was no association between obesity and depressive mood at either time point.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Impairment in the emotional well-being of overweight adolescents, where this is observed, may be primarily due to the effects of weight-related BD. This appears to be the case for both boys and girls and during both early and late adolescence. The findings are consistent with the view that BD is central to the health and well-being of children and adolescents who are overweight and that distress associated with negative body image may warrant greater attention in the context of obesity prevention and treatment programs.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia. j.mond@uws.edu.au
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mond
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: Kerri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boutelle
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hannan
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumark-Sztainer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D057566:Self Report