Gender, ethnicity, psychosocial factors, and quality of life among severely overweight, treatment-seeking adolescents.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
To examine gender and ethnic differences in psychosocial functioning among 100 (78% African American and 59% girls) treatment-seeking overweight 11- to 18-year-old adolescents. Self-esteem was examined as a potential mediator of the association between weight-related teasing and quality of life (QOL).

METHODS:
Adolescents completed measures evaluating self-esteem, dietary habits, teasing, and QOL.

RESULTS:
Few racial or gender differences were found. Mean QOL was similar to that reported in another study examining treatment-seeking overweight adolescents and substantially lower than what has been reported for non-treatment-seeking overweight adolescents. Self-esteem partially mediated the association between teasing and QOL.

CONCLUSIONS:
Severely overweight adolescents of both genders and diverse ethnicities face significant stigmatization and manifest poor overall psychosocial functioning, which is negatively associated with QOL. Furthermore, self-esteem appears to partially mediate the negative relationship between teasing and QOL.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Stern, Marilyn (M); Mazzeo, Suzanne E (SE); Gerke, Clarice K (CK); Porter, Jerlym S (JS); Bean, Melanie K (MK); Laver, Joseph H (JH);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology and Pediatrics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 808 West Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA. mstern(-atsign-)vcu.edu

Grants: MH-068520 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of pediatric psychology (J Pediatr Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2007 Jan-Feb; vol 32 (issue 1) : pp 90-4

Dates: Created 2006/12/28; Completed 2007/03/01; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 16818482, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Male
Overweight
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - statistics & numerical data
Psychology
Quality of Life - psychology
Questionnaires
Self Concept
Sex Factors

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.