Obesity and Suicide Behavior in Young Latina Adults of Mexican Heritage: The Mediating Influences of Sleep Problems, Health Problems, and Dissatisfaction with Personal Appearance

Authors

• Joseph D. Hovey, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
• Liza Talavera-Garza, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
• Glenn Gray, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Isabella A. Cruz, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Nadeen Salhadar, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
• Monica E. Ochoa, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-16-2026

Abstract

Although research findings have indicated that obesity is associated with suicide behavior, especially in females, scant research has examined mediators in this relationship. Moreover, although suicides have increased in young Latina adults in the United States, no published studies have examined obesity and suicide risk in young Latina adults. The present study thus examined the relationship of obesity to suicide behavior in young Latina adults and assessed sleep problems, health problems, and dissatisfaction with personal appearance as possible mediators. Participants were 401 female students of Mexican heritage from South Texas who completed the National College Health Assessment II, from which data on suicide behavior, depression, sleep and health problems, personal appearance satisfaction, and body mass index were obtained. Obesity was significantly associated with sleep problems, health problems, dissatisfaction with personal appearance, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. Parallel multiple mediation analyses and Sobel tests indicate that obesity had significant indirect effects on suicidal ideation through sleep problems, health problems, and personal appearance dissatisfaction. The present findings strongly suggest that sleep problems, health problems, and personal appearance dissatisfaction mediate the relationship between obesity and suicide behavior and thus help explain how obesity and suicide behavior are connected. Finally, the present study identifies suicide risk factors pertinent to young Latina adults while also identifying possible pathways for the prevention and treatment of suicide.

Comments

© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.    

Recommended Citation

Hovey, J. D., Talavera-Garza, L., Gray, G., Cruz, I. A., Salhadar, N., & Ochoa, M. E. (2026). Obesity and Suicide Behavior in Young Latina Adults of Mexican Heritage: The Mediating Influences of Sleep Problems, Health Problems, and Dissatisfaction with Personal Appearance. Behavioral Sciences, 16(3), 442. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16030442    

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Title

Behavioral Sciences

DOI

10.3390/bs16030442