Depressive Symptoms in Adults with Obesity and Their Associations with Sociodemographic, Health and Lifestyle Factors: A Secondary Analysis of a Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Research indicates a bidirectional association between obesity and depression. The co-occurrence of both disorders has serious clinical implications. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms (DS) in a group of men and women with obesity and to identify the health factors, sociodemographic factors and lifestyle elements associated with the severity of DS among these persons. Methods: The participants in the study were a group of 3742 persons aged 42–65 years with a BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2. A multivariate negative binomial regression analysis was performed in order to determine the expected number of DS. Results: Almost 28% of the participants with obesity showed at least four DS. The factors with the strongest associations with the number of DS were experiencing stressful events over the past year (IRR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.23–1.33, p < 0.001), gender (IRR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.79–0.85, p < 0.001) and multimorbidity (IRR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.06–1.14, p < 0.001). The prevalence of DS was also associated with some socioeconomic factors (place of residence, education and marital status) and lifestyle factors (smoking, TV-viewing time, sleep duration and regular participation in organised groups or associations). Conclusions: Further longitudinal and intervention studies are necessary in order to better understand the factors related to the prevalence of DS in persons with obesity.