title: Gender and Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Obesity and Depression Among Black Adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the association between obesity and major depression disorder (MDD) in a nationally representative sample of Black adolescents in the USA. The study also tested the effects of ethnicity and gender as possible moderators.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL)-Adolescents, a representative household mental health survey of Black adolescents in the USA. Participants consisted of 1170 Black adolescents (810 African Americans and 360 Caribbean Blacks). Obesity was defined determined by the cutoff points based on the body mass index (BMI) appropriate for age and gender. Twelve-month MDD was measured using the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). In the first step, the association between obesity and MDD in the pooled sample, controlling for the main effects of gender and ethnicity. In the next steps, two interactions were tested: (1) obesity and ethnicity and (2) obesity and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although any associations between obesity and MDD in the pooled sample of Blacks were not found, there was a significant interaction between ethnicity and obesity on MDD. Upon testing the associations across intersections of ethnicity and gender, a positive association was found among Caribbean Black females but not Caribbean Black males, African American males, or African American female.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The link between BMI and MDD among Blacks depends on ethnicity and gender, and risk of comorbid depression among Black youth with obesity is highest among Caribbean Black females.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. assari@umich.edu.|Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. assari@umich.edu.
authors: Shervin
authors: S
authors: Assari
authors: Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health (CRECH), School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.|Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
authors: Cleopatra Howard
authors: CH
authors: Caldwell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Adolescents; Blacks; Ethnic groups; Gender; Major depressive disorder; Obesity