Depression, anxiety, and psychosocial stressors across BMI classes: A Norwegian population study - The HUNT Study

Trine Tetlie Eik-Nes; Audrey Tokatlian; Jayanthi Raman; Dean Spirou; Kirsti Kvaløy

doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.886148

Depression, anxiety, and psychosocial stressors across BMI classes: A Norwegian population study - The HUNT Study

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Aug 10:13:886148. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.886148. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Trine Tetlie Eik-Nes^{1

2}, Audrey Tokatlian³, Jayanthi Raman⁴, Dean Spirou^{5

6

7}, Kirsti Kvaløy^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU),, Trondheim, Norway.
² Stjørdal Community Mental Health Centre, Department of Psychiatry, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway.
³ Discipline of Psychological Science, Australian College of Applied Professions, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ School of Psychological Sciences, University of Newcastle, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Discipline of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Blacktown Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁷ School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Department of Research and Development, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust, Levanger, Norway.
⁹ Health Study of Trøndelag (HUNT) Research Centre Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Levanger, Norway.
¹⁰ Centre for Sami Health Research, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Arctic University of Norway (UiT), Tromsø, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a global issue with detrimental health impacts. Recent research has highlighted the complexity of obesity due to its psychological correlates. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and depression, anxiety, and psychosocial stress.

Methods: Data, including demographic, height, and weight information from 23 557 adult participants was obtained from the fourth survey of the Norwegian population based Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT4, 2017-2019). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to measure self-reported depression and anxiety. We also collected data on 10 domains of psychosocial stress (violence, mental violence, unwanted sex, cyber bullying, school bullying, history of own life-threatening disease, life-threatening disease in family, relationship problems, divorce, and sudden family death), which were aggregated into a cumulative measure of psychosocial stress.

Results: Multinomial logistic regression was utilized for statistical analysis. In the full model, the relationship between depression, anxiety, and psychosocial stress were explored controlling for age, sex, income, marital status, and educational attainment. After adjustments, a significant relationship was found between depression and obesity I (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.03-1.06, p <.001) and II and III (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.14, p <.001). After the same adjustments, significant relationship between anxiety and overweight and obesity class I was found among elderly participants (≥65 years old). Psychosocial stress significantly and positively related to all levels of BMI, with or without considering anxiety and depression, after controlling for sex, age, educational attainment, marital status, and income in all age groups.

Conclusions: Obesity is a multifaceted health problem, significantly related to psychological factors including depression and psychosocial stress, which supports the need for a multifaceted, targeted approach to obesity treatment.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; epidemiology; obesity; psychosocial; stressors; trauma.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Anxiety*
Body Mass Index
Depression*
Humans
Obesity
Overweight