The Correlation Between Obesity and Common Mental Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study on Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Factors

Abstract

Obesity and common mental disorders (CMDs), namely depression and anxiety are some health conditions that can be considered as chronic diseases. Those common diseases contribute to multiple sector burdens of diseases across the world and are known to be associated with one another. However, the relationship varies depending on sociodemographic and psychosocial factors. This study aims to examine the correlation between obesity and CMDs while considering socio demographics, namely age, sex, education level, and marital status along with psychosocial variables, that are general adaptation function (GAF), insight, and CMDs symptoms as indicated by self-report questionnaires-20 (SRQ-20). The research analyses 691 patients’ medical reports from a primary community health care in Ngemplak, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia between January 2022 and June 2024. Participants were non-pregnancy clients who accessed both physical and psychological clinics. Logistic regression were utilized to analyse the correlation among given variables, especially obesity and CMDs while controlling other covariates. Obesity was found to be a significant predictor of common mental disorders (CMDs) only after adjusting for both sociodemographic and psychosocial variables. In contrast, obesity alone, or when adjusted solely for sociodemographic factors, did not significantly predict the occurrence of CMDs. The findings of this study highlight the importance of socio-demographics alongside psychosocial determinants in the management of chronic diseases particularly obesity and common mental disorders.