Abstract summary 

We sought to investigate the relationship between social violence and adult overweight/obesity and the role of common mental disorders (CMD) in mediating this relationship.A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2016 in Tunisia. Participants were selected from randomly selected Primary Health Care Centers. The Arabic version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences-International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) was used.A total of 2120 participants were included. Women exposed to social ACEs had higher rates of overweight/obesity than men (13.5 versus 9.5%; P = 0.004). For women, statistically significant partial mediation effects of CMD were observed for exposure to community violence (% mediated = 17.7%). For men, partial mediation was found for the exposure to peer violence (% mediated = 12.5%).Our results provide evidence of the independent increase of overweight/obesity after exposure to social ACEs. Efforts to uncover and address underlying trauma in health care settings may increase the effectiveness of obesity interventions.

Authors & Co-authors:  El Mhamdi Sana S Lemieux Andrine A Abroug Hela H Ben Salah Arwa A Bouanene Ines I Ben Salem Kamel K al'Absi Mustafa M

Study Outcome 

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