Global negative self-evaluations, weight and eating concerns and depressive symptoms: a prospective study of adolescents.

A longitudinal study with four sequential cohorts of girls and boys in early to mid-adolescence (n = 607) was used to assess adolescent changes in global negative self-evaluation, depressive symptoms and weight and eating concerns. The effects of these areas on one another over time were also assessed. Over the six months between the two data collection times, both the girls and the boys experienced an improvement in depressive symptoms, while the boys also experienced a decrease in weight concerns. The results indicated that global negative self-evaluations could predict weight and eating concerns in boys and girls, while weight concerns could predict depressive symptoms in girls. These results are of particular interest, since these relationships have not been previously examined in a longitudinal study.