Impact of body mass index on the psychopathological profile of obese women

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is a complex condition associated with a host of medical disorders. One common assumption is that obesity is also related to psychological and emotional complications. However, some studies have shown that obesity itself does not appear to be systematically associated with psychopathological outcomes. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact that the various degrees of obesity have on the psychopathological profile of obese patients. Method: The study sample consisted of 217 women classified as obese (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m 2 ) who sought medical treatment for weight loss and were consecutively invited to participate in the study. Anthropometric data were registered for all participants. Psychiatric evaluations were performed using the Beck Depression Inventory and Symptom Checklist-90. Multiple regression analysis was used in order to determine whether any of the studied variables (age, level of education, Beck Depression Inventory score and body mass index) were independently correlated with the score on the different subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90. Results: Only body mass index was found to correlate significantly with the score on the somatization subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90 (r = 0.148, p = 0.035). This correlation remained significant after multiple regression analysis (p = 0.03). No correlation was found between body mass index and the score on any of the other subscales. Conclusion: The degree of obesity did not correlate with any of the psychological profiles commonly described in the medical literature, including depression and anxiety. The correlation between obesity and somatization, although weak, might simply be related to an overlapping of symptoms. Descriptors

Insatisfacción corporal y conductas de control del peso en chicas adolescentes con sobrepeso: papel mediador de la ansiedad y la depresión

“…Sin embargo, no se encontró relación entre el IMC y los niveles de ansiedad y depresión. Estos datos avalan la falta de relación entre el IMC y la sintomatología ansiosa y depresiva encontrada por diversos autores (18,20,21). Es posible que más que el IMC objetivo, tal y como sugieren los resultados de Ruiz-Prieto y cols.…”

“…No obstante, hay estudios que no apoyan la asociación entre un alto índice de masa corporal y problemas de salud mental (18)(19)(20), ni la comorbilidad entre la obesidad y la ansiedad y la depresión (21).…”

All roads bring to Rome: a different way for predicting success in the therapy of obesity through psychological features

“…The present data suggest a specific relation between weight loss and somatization, which is the tendency to experience and report somatic symptoms in absence of a medical disease. It has been reported that, in obese subjects, somatization has a positive correlation with BMI and that it is associated with impaired mental health [37]. In addition, a relationship has been described between somatization and binge eating behaviors [38].…”

Impact of a 6-month treatment with intragastric balloon on body composition and psychopathological profile in obese individuals with metabolic syndrome

“…Somatization could partially explain this difference; obesity may be considered as probably influencing the development and maintenance of somatization disorder (i.e., expressions of physical complaints with no corresponding organic injuries) [8, 49]. The HADS has been developed to avoid interference from somatic disorders on the scale, so anxiety and depression symptoms related with physical diseases were excluded [50].…”