Depressed mood in class III obesity predicted by weight-related stigma

Greater depressed mood in Class III obese surgery-seeking clients may be due to weight-related stigma, weight-related physical disability (e.g. mobility) or the presence of binge-eating (BE).

60 Class III obese surgery-seeking adults were administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), weight-related physical disability (IWQOL-PF) and another weight-related stigma (IWQOL-PD), and assessed for BE (SCID-1 or Questionnaire of Eating and Weight Patterns) before surgery.

In a hierarchical regression analysis, BMI, gender, and age of obesity onset did not account for a significant portion of the variance in BDI scores in the first step. The second step of the model was statistically significant (F(3,53)=8.469, P<0.000), accounting for 33.6% of the variance in BDI scores. IWQOL-PD scores were the only significant predictor of BDI scores (b=0.518, P=0.001), and this independently contributed to 32.6% of the variance in BDI scores.

This suggests that depressed mood seen in Class III obese surgery-seeking individuals may be most related to weight-related stigma rather than BE status, or weight-related physical disability.