Both stress eating and menopause status significantly contributed to the depressive symptom-weight association in midlife women, a recent study found. The study investigated the association between depressive symptoms and weight in midlife women by examining stress eating as a mediator between depressive symptoms and weight, and menopause status as a moderator of the associations of depressive symptoms, stress eating, and weight. The analysis was performed using data from the Midlife in the United States II study with a sample of 815 premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Researchers found:

• Depressive symptoms were not directly associated with weight, when controlling for covariates.
• However, stress eating was a significant mediator between depressive symptoms and weight.
• Depressive symptoms and stress eating was significantly associated in postmenopausal, but not premenopausal, women.