Eating and Psychological Profiles of Women with Higher Depressive Symptoms Who Are Trying to Lose Weight

The aim of this study was to determine whether women with higher depressive symptoms differed from women with lower depressive symptoms on early weight-loss, eating behaviors and psychological profiles. Among a sample of 45 overweight/obese women who had undertaken a self-initiated weight-loss attempt, two groups were formed based on scores from the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), one with lower depressive symptoms (BDI-II < 10; n = 21) and one with higher depressive symptoms (BDI ≥ 10; n = 24). Even if some women in the higher depressive symptom group did not reach the clinical cut-off for depression (BDI = 14), this group tended to lose less weight in the first two months of their weight-loss attempt and to show a more disturbed eating and psychological profile compared to the group with lower depressive symptoms. In addition, among women with higher depressive symptoms, eating and psychological variables were systematically related to one another whereas these variables were not related among the other group. Results highlight the relevance of considering the presence of depressive symptoms as a marker of clinical severity among the overweight/obese population, and suggest that the BDI-II could be an interesting screening instrument to identify this particular subgroup.