Differential Effects of Depression and Weight Perception across Racial Groups

To increase cultural humility, we examined whether race was a moderator of the long-term relationship between weight perception and depressive symptoms. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 12,269), we ran a multiple-group autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. Depressive symptoms and weight perception remained consistent from adolescence to young adulthood for most of the racial groups. There was some variability across racial groups in how depressive symptoms in adolescence and weight perception in emerging adulthood were related. Clinicians should be mindful of the cultural impact on factors affecting the emotional and perceptual experience of the client.