Comorbidity between depression and disordered eating in adolescents

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders seen in adolescence. Low self-esteem, lack of social support and poor body image have been found to be risk factors for depression. However, these risk factors have not adequately explained why adolescent female rates of depressive episodes rise to almost twice that of males. This study had three purposes. The first is to identify the prevalence and comorbidity of depressive and disordered eating symptoms in a sample of high school students. The second is to examine predictors of depressive and disordered eating symptoms. Finally, a model predicting depressive symptoms is examined. Significant depressive and disordered eating symptomatology and a high level of comorbidity were observed in this sample. Predictors of depressive and disordered eating symptoms were similar for both genders. Finally, a model predicting depressive symptoms, via body image factors, was found to be supported in both boys and girls. The results of this study suggest that males and females are more similar than different, regarding predictors of depressive symptoms and disordered eating symptoms.