Franziska Ulrike Jung , Franziska Bleck , Alexander Pabst , Katja Schladitz , Melanie Luppa , Felix S. Hussenoeder , Christoph Engel , Markus Loeffler , Andreas Hinz , Heide Glaesmer , Nigar Reyes , Silke Zachariae , Samira Zeynalova , Kerstin Wirkner , Toralf Kirsten , Arno Villringer , Steffi G. Riedel-Heller , Margrit Löbner
{"title":"Depressive symptoms in individuals with overweight and obesity. Results from the LIFE-adult-study","authors":"Franziska Ulrike Jung , Franziska Bleck , Alexander Pabst , Katja Schladitz , Melanie Luppa , Felix S. Hussenoeder , Christoph Engel , Markus Loeffler , Andreas Hinz , Heide Glaesmer , Nigar Reyes , Silke Zachariae , Samira Zeynalova , Kerstin Wirkner , Toralf Kirsten , Arno Villringer , Steffi G. Riedel-Heller , Margrit Löbner","doi":"10.1016/j.jad.2025.119792","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Prevalences of overweight and obesity are rising worldwide. Comorbidity of depressive symptoms and overweight or obesity are considered as a major public (mental) health issue. The aim was to determine prevalences in a non-treatment seeking population of adults, investigating possible confounders as well as interaction effects.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The overall sample included 6200 participants aged 40 to 80 years from the LIFE-Adult-Study. Body Mass Index (BMI), symptoms of depression, somatic complaints, as well as health-related factors were surveyed using validated instruments.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Overall, 5.5 % of individuals with overweight and 7.3 % of individuals with obesity reported depressive symptoms in the past 7 days, compared to 5.8 % of individuals without obesity/overweight. At total, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 2.2 % among individuals with overweight and 1.7 % among individuals with obesity. Multivariate regression models revealed an overall positive association between BMI and depressive symptoms (β = 0.031, <em>p</em> = 0.001), adjusting for covariates. Moreover, being unmarried, higher age, low or medium SES, more somatization and medium physical activity was significantly linked to severity of depressive symptoms.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>The results underline the importance of addressing comorbidity in research and practice. While the overall number of people with both obesity and depressive symptoms in the population is low, individuals with obesity may be more vulnerable to experience depression than those without obesity. Comorbidity may be associated with consequences on overall health and quality of life. Further research is needed, especially longitudinal studies in order to explain the role and causality of socio-demographic or health-related factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14963,"journal":{"name":"Journal of affective disorders","volume":"390 ","pages":"Article 119792"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of affective disorders","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032725012340","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Prevalences of overweight and obesity are rising worldwide. Comorbidity of depressive symptoms and overweight or obesity are considered as a major public (mental) health issue. The aim was to determine prevalences in a non-treatment seeking population of adults, investigating possible confounders as well as interaction effects.
Methods
The overall sample included 6200 participants aged 40 to 80 years from the LIFE-Adult-Study. Body Mass Index (BMI), symptoms of depression, somatic complaints, as well as health-related factors were surveyed using validated instruments.
Results
Overall, 5.5 % of individuals with overweight and 7.3 % of individuals with obesity reported depressive symptoms in the past 7 days, compared to 5.8 % of individuals without obesity/overweight. At total, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 2.2 % among individuals with overweight and 1.7 % among individuals with obesity. Multivariate regression models revealed an overall positive association between BMI and depressive symptoms (β = 0.031, p = 0.001), adjusting for covariates. Moreover, being unmarried, higher age, low or medium SES, more somatization and medium physical activity was significantly linked to severity of depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
The results underline the importance of addressing comorbidity in research and practice. While the overall number of people with both obesity and depressive symptoms in the population is low, individuals with obesity may be more vulnerable to experience depression than those without obesity. Comorbidity may be associated with consequences on overall health and quality of life. Further research is needed, especially longitudinal studies in order to explain the role and causality of socio-demographic or health-related factors.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Affective Disorders publishes papers concerned with affective disorders in the widest sense: depression, mania, mood spectrum, emotions and personality, anxiety and stress. It is interdisciplinary and aims to bring together different approaches for a diverse readership. Top quality papers will be accepted dealing with any aspect of affective disorders, including neuroimaging, cognitive neurosciences, genetics, molecular biology, experimental and clinical neurosciences, pharmacology, neuroimmunoendocrinology, intervention and treatment trials.