| Prior research indicates that depressive symptoms surge during adolescence, and alarming health reports show that rates of overweight and obesity among teens are on the rise. Harsh environmental, economic and social factors associated with inner-city living, may further undermine adolescents' psychological and physical wellbeing. Despite multiple reports associating overweight with depression among adolescents, the nature of this relationship is not yet fully understood. Existing accounts emphasize low self-esteem, peer harassment, and poor body image as critical factors mediating the relationship between overweight and depression among teens, but the precise mechanisms and behavioral pathways linking body weight with depression remain elusive. The current study sought to investigate the link between overweight and depressive symptoms in an adolescent urban sample by testing two mediational models. In the first model, a negative body self-image was investigated to examine whether it mediated the effect of overweight on depressive symptoms. In the second model, pro-inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6, CRP, TNF-alpha) were examined as mediators of the relationship between overweight and depressive symptoms in overweight adolescents, beyond body dissatisfaction. Our results indicated that adolescent girls exhibited higher BMI, more depressive symptoms and lower body satisfaction than boys. While African-American adolescents were more likely to have higher BMI, it was Caucasian participants who were more dissatisfied with their bodies. However, we did not find a link between BMI and depressive symptoms. Additionally, despite significant association of higher BMI with inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6, CRP) and association of C-reactive protein with lower body-esteem, increased inflammation was not related to depressive symptoms in our sample of early to middle adolescence. This study addresses important issues related to health disparities among racially diverse, vulnerable adolescent populations, demonstrating gender and racial gaps in mental and physical health areas. It also highlights the importance of considering physical and psychological consequences when treating both depression and overweight. |
