Purpose

Although it is well-established that higher weight status youth are at greater risk of peer victimization, it is unknown how weight status and victimization develop concurrently; thus, the current study examined the co-occurrence of weight status and victimization trajectories across early adolescence. Furthermore, the role of ethnicity, including a novel measure of individual-level ethnic diversity exposure at school, was evaluated.

Methods

Participants included 5,991U.S. boys and girls (52% female; 32% Latino; 20% white; 14% East/Southeast Asian; 12% African-American/black) from 26 urban middle schools. Participants self-reported height and weight as well as peer victimization across four timepoints from sixth to eighth grade. Survey data was collected between 2009 and 2014.

Results

Growth mixture modeling identified five weight status groups (Low, Moderate, High, Decreasing, and Increasing) and four victimization groups (Low, High, Decreasing, and Increasing) trajectories. Parallel growth mixture modeling indicated that adolescents in the moderate weight status trajectory experienced the least amount of victimization; adolescents in the high weight status trajectory reported the highest levels of increasing and stable-high victimization. Moreover, higher weight status youth exposed to greater ethnic diversity at school were more likely to experience low victimization.

Conclusions

The study highlights the importance of belonging to a normative weight status trajectory for experiencing low peer victimization, yet also shows the large variability in the victimization experiences of higher weight status youth. Greater exposure to ethnic diversity at school appears to play a significant role in offsetting risk of victimization among higher weight status adolescents.

A growing body of work has shown that obese adolescents are at risk of engaging in problematic substance use, but mixed findings highlight the complexity of the relationship. Incorporating the psychosocial context into this research may inform past discrepancies. The current study assessed whether obese adolescents had a higher likelihood of experiencing a psychosocial context that predicted problematic substance use in young adulthood. Latent class analysis on 10,637 adolescents from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) identified four psychosocial classes in adolescence: Adjusted, Deviant Peer/Victimization, Moderate Depression, and Maladjusted. Obese adolescents were more likely to belong to the Maladjusted class, characterized by higher levels of depression and deviant peer affiliation. Those in the Maladjusted class had the second highest levels of cigarette smoking and marijuana use in young adulthood. Obese adolescents' psychosocial context should be considered in future research linking obesity and substance use.

Objectives

To identify underlying patterns of cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana use in young adulthood, and ascertain whether adolescent overweight or obesity status predicts problematic substance use patterns.

Methods

The study included 15,119 participants from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) at Wave 1 (11-19 years) and Wave 3 (18-26 years). Latent class analysis was conducted.

Results

Participants were classified into a Low Substance Use (35%), Regular Smokers (12%), High-risk Alcohol use (33%), or High Substance Use (20%) class. Overweight/obese adolescents had a greater likelihood of belonging to the Regular Smokers class.

Conclusions

Overweight/obese adolescents are at higher risk of engaging in regular cigarette smoking without problematic alcohol or marijuana use.