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Table 2 Associations between past obesity (vs no past obesity) and current psychological outcomes

From: The psychological legacy of past obesity and early mortality: evidence from two longitudinal studies

Psychological outcomes

Past obesity status (obesity vs. non-obesity)

n

Model 1

n

Model 2

Estimate (95% CI)

p-value

Estimate (95% CI)

p-value

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

 Depressive symptoms (PHQ-9)

29,047

0.17 (0.13, 0.21)

< 0.001

17,799

0.17 (0.13, 0.22)

< 0.001

Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

 Depressive symptoms (CES-D-8)

11,195

0.12 (0.05, 0.18)

< 0.001

6482

0.20 (0.08, 0.31)

0.001

 Life satisfaction

11,072

−0.10 (−0.17, −0.04)

0.001

6410

−0.11 (−0.21, −0.01)

0.040

 Loneliness

11,010

0.11 (0.04, 0.17)

0.001

6374

0.12 (0.02, 0.23)

0.022

 Social support

11,152

−0.07 (−0.14, −0.01)

0.025

6454

−0.06 (−0.17, 0.04)

0.227

 Social strain

11,144

0.11 (0.05, 0.18)

< 0.001

6450

0.14 (0.04, 0.24)

0.007

 Positive affect

11,029

−0.13 (−0.19, −0.06)

< 0.001

6383

−0.11 (−0.21, 0.00)

0.053

 Negative affect

11,035

0.12 (0.05, 0.19)

0.001

6387

0.17 (0.06, 0.29)

0.003

 Purpose in life

10,968

−0.10 (−0.16, −0.03)

0.003

6328

−0.04 (−0.14, 0.06)

0.451

 Anxiety

11,026

0.14 (0.08, 0.21)

< 0.001

6371

0.22 (0.10, 0.34)

< 0.001

 Hopelessness

11,082

0.07 (0.01, 0.13)

0.024

6410

0.03 (−0.07, 0.13)

0.602

 Optimism

11,020

−0.06 (−0.12, 0.01)

0.101

6375

−0.06 (−0.17, 0.05)

0.314

 Pessimism

11,013

0.06 (−0.00, 0.12)

0.059

6371

0.03 (−0.07, 0.12)

0.608

 Cynical hostility

10,816

0.03 (−0.03, 0.09)

0.336

6263

−0.01 (−0.11, 0.08)

0.813

 Personal constrain

11,064

0.08 (0.01, 0.14)

0.017

6407

0.09 (−0.02, 0.19)

0.094

 Mastery

11,067

−0.10 (−0.16, −0.03)

0.003

6411

−0.13 (−0.24, −0.03)

0.012

 Weight stigma (ref: no)

11,086

3.53 (2.65, 4.70)

< 0.001

6407

3.60 (2.16, 5.99)

< 0.001

 Index of impaired psychological well-being

11,143

0.15 (0.09, 0.21)

< 0.001

6450

0.16 (0.05, 0.27)

0.004

  1. Model 1 included all eligible participants, and model 2 included only participants with no obesity at baseline
  2. Separate regression models were developed for each psychological adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, education, working status, household income (NHANES) or household wealth (HRS), current objective BMI and BMI-squared, and study wave (NHANES)
  3. Findings for the adjusted associations between past obesity status and psychological outcomes are presented as regression coefficients (β), except for weight stigma presented as odds ratio (OR)
  4. All continuous psychological outcomes were in the form of z-score (mean = 0; SD = 1)
  5. Index of impaired psychological well-being was developed by re-standardising the average standardised scores of 10 psychological outcomes (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, loneliness, positive affect, negative affect, purpose in life, anxiety, hopelessness, pessimism, and personal constraint)
  6. n Analytical sample size, CI Confidence interval, ref Reference group, PHQ-9 Patient Health Questionnaire (9 items), CES-D-8 Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (8 items)
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BMC Medicine

ISSN: 1741-7015

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