Family Factors and Obesity in Relation to Mental Health Among Korean Children and Adolescents

Objectives Family factors have been associated with the mental health of children and adolescents. We investigated the relationship between family factors and depressive symptoms in obese Korean children and adolescents. Methods Participants included 281 overweight or obese youth (aged 10 to 14) who participated in an obesity intervention program. Participants in the highest tertile on the Child Depression Inventory were categorized as the depressive group. Using the Family Adaptability, Partnership, Growth, Affection, and Resolve Test, we defined a highly functional family with a score of 7 or more. We evaluated the associations between the severity of depressive symptoms and family factors after stratifying for gender using multivariate logistic regression. Results Poorly functioning family was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms (boys, odds ratio [OR] = 5.95, 95% CI [2.54-13.93]; girls OR = 3.16, 95% CI [1.19-8.38]). Having a good parental relationship was significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms in boys (OR = 0.30, 95% CI [0.10-0.96]). In girls, severely obese status showed higher association with depressive symptoms compared to girls who were overweight (OR = 4.74, 95% CI [1.01-19.84]). Conclusions We identified associations between family functioning, parent-child relations, obesity severity, and depressive symptoms in this sample of overweight and obese youth, suggesting that the development of family-focused interventions to accompany weight loss strategies may benefit the mental health of obese youth.