Mental Health in Obese Patients From a Positive Psychology Approach

Background: The literature has found that obese patients usually report less depression and anxiety than normal weight individuals. However, not many investigations have studied the relationship between obesity and quality of life from a Positive Psychology approach. Methods: A total of 221 participants were selected to conduct the study. Participants were obese outpatients from the Valme Hospital (Seville) and a control group comprised of students from the Spanish Open University. The Spanish versions of the Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-Being and the SF-36 were used to measure psychological well-being and mental health respectively. Findings: Obese participants showed less psychological well-being than normal weight individuals but there were not statistically significant differences in the case of mental health measured with the SF-36. Discussion: According to the results, it could be concluded that reports of psychological well-being problems are much more common in participants with weight problems than in the control group.