Psychosocial Status and Mental Health in Adolescents before and after Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Literature Review

OBJECTIVE: As long-term results of conservative treatment for obesity are discouraging, bariatric surgery is becoming a treatment option for extremely obese adolescents. However, mental and behavioral problems need to be respected when treating this vulnerable target group. METHODS: A detailed systematic literature review on pre- and post-operative depressive, anxiety and eating disorder symptoms of adolescent patients was performed in PsychINFO, PubMed and Medline electronic databases. RESULTS: Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Although strength of evidence was limited, results suggested that pre-operatively a third of adolescents suffered from moderate to severe depressive disorder symptoms and a quarter from anxiety disorder symptoms, while a substantial number showed eating disorder symptoms. Post-operatively, levels of depressive disorder symptoms significantly improved. Original articles on outcomes of eating and anxiety disorder symptoms after weight loss surgery were not found. CONCLUSIONS: Further attention is needed on consistent clinical assessment of mental health disturbances and their consecutive treatment in adolescents. Future research should also focus on psychological and psychosocial predictors of weight loss after bariatric surgery.