title: Childhood Sexual Abuse Moderates the Relationship Between Obesity and Mental Health in Low-Income Women.
abstract: We examined whether a history of self-reported childhood sexual abuse (CSA) moderates the relationship between obesity and mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder) in an ethnically diverse sample of low-income women. A community sample of 186 women completed self-report measures and had their weight and height measured. Body mass index and CSA had an interactive effect on all mental health measures, such that obese women with a CSA history reported substantially higher levels of all symptoms. These results give greater specificity to the obesity-mental health link reported in previous studies and provide possible directions for targeted intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA jennifer.acker@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Milan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: PTSD; anxiety; childhood sexual abuse; depression; obesity