Psychosocial stress and negative emotions have been associated with the consumption of highly palatable foods and excess weight. Few studies have examined these variable relationships among young African American women. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship of perceived stress, depressive symptoms, eating behaviors, and body mass index (BMI) among 191 African American women who were 18 to 40 years old. Multivariate analysis indicated that depressive symptoms had a greater impact on highly palatable eating behaviors compared with perceived stress. This study extends understanding of depressive symptoms on eating behaviors among young African American women.
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