General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 31, Issue 5 , Pages 442-450, September 2009

Longitudinal associations among depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders in young adulthood☆☆☆

  • Carolyn A. McCarty, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98101, USA. Tel.: +1 206 884 8243; fax: +1 206 884 7801.
    • ,
  • Rick Kosterman, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • ,
  • W. Alex Mason, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • ,
  • Elizabeth McCauley, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • ,
  • J. David Hawkins, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • ,
  • Todd I. Herrenkohl, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
    • ,
  • Liliana J. Lengua, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA

Received 3 February 2009; accepted 29 May 2009. published online 13 July 2009.

Abstract 

Objective

This study examined concurrent and prospective relations between clinical depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders during young adulthood to better understand common etiology and the progression of co-occurrence.

Method

Participants were 776 young adults (393 males and 383 females) who were interviewed at ages 24, 27 and 30 years with assessment of past-year major depressive episode, past-year alcohol abuse or dependence disorder, and obesity. Longitudinal path analyses were conducted separately for women and men, controlling for income and including stability of each of these outcomes.

Results

Among women, depression was positively associated with later alcohol use disorders (ages 27 to 30: OR=3.11), and alcohol use disorders prospectively predicted obesity (ages 24 to 27: OR=3.84). Obesity predicted depression from ages 27 to 30 among women (OR=2.14), but was protective against depression for males (OR=0.31).

Conclusions

Results show that depression, obesity and alcohol use disorders are interrelated conditions for women. A greater understanding of reasons underlying the co-occurrence of these conditions would benefit prevention and intervention efforts.

Keywords: Alcohol abuse, Depression, Obesity, Young adults, Comorbidity

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☆ This article is one of a number of articles from the Seattle Social Development Project. Some descriptions of the project used in this article are similar to those used in studies published previously by the authors.

☆☆ This research was supported by grant #9R01DA021426-08 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and by grant #K01 MH69892-05 from the National Institute of Mental Health (McCarty). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse or the National Institutes of Health.

PII: S0163-8343(09)00100-5

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2009.05.013

General Hospital Psychiatry
Volume 31, Issue 5 , Pages 442-450, September 2009

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