{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T07:58:37Z","timestamp":1781164717018,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780963200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Evidence on the interplay between perceived stress, dietary behaviour, and weight-related psychosocial burden in Romanian young adults remains scarce. This cross-sectional study assessed associations between BMI, perceived stress, multi-system somatic symptom severity, and psychosocial burden in 117 participants aged 16 to 20 years (89.7% female; mean age 19.23 \u00b1 0.74 years; mean BMI 22.66 \u00b1 3.85 kg\/m2), recruited by convenience sampling in T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania, during June 2025. Non-parametric methods were used throughout. Female participants scored significantly higher than males across digestive (p &lt; 0.001), neurological (p = 0.001), cutaneous (p = 0.014), and total symptom domains (p &lt; 0.001), with a median total symptom score of 21.0 versus 3.0 in males. Perceived stress correlated positively with neurological (rS = 0.445), cardiovascular (rS = 0.350), digestive (rS = 0.316), and total symptom scores (rS = 0.401; all p &lt; 0.001). BMI was not associated with somatic symptoms but correlated with weight-related stigma (rS = 0.391, p &lt; 0.001). Emotional distress was prevalent regardless of weight status: 60.7% reported food-related guilt and 59.8% reduced self-confidence, yet only 6.0% had consulted a mental health professional. Stress management, nutritional counselling, and body image support should target young adults across all BMI categories.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16060969","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,11]],"date-time":"2026-06-11T06:57:17Z","timestamp":1781161037000},"page":"969","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Psychosocial Burden, Multi-System Somatic Symptom Severity, and Weight-Related Stigma in Late Adolescents and Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Romania"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Raluca","family":"Maior","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Community Nutrition and Food Safety, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Gheorghe Marinescu Street No. 38, 540142 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-3167-5497","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hajnal","family":"Finta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Health Management, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Gheorghe Marinescu Street No. 38, 540142 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Halit Tanju","family":"Besler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Ayd\u0131n University, Be\u015fyol Neighborhood, \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc Street, No. 38, K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck\u00e7ekmece, 34295 Istanbul, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Mardale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Doctoral School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Oradea, Universit\u0103\u021bii Street No. 1, 410087 Oradea, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simona","family":"Toncean","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Management, Dr. Eugen Nicoar\u0103 Municipal Hospital, 545300 Reghin, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8567-8459","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vladimir","family":"Bacarea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Research Methodology, George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Gheorghe Marinescu Street No. 38, 540136 T\u00e2rgu Mure\u0219, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"74","article-title":"Associations between Perceived Stress and Health Outcomes in Adolescents","volume":"16","author":"Wiklund","year":"2022","journal-title":"Child Adolesc. 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