In a 2-phase study with a total of 392 participants, depressive symptoms mediated the association between disordered eating and lower problem-solving confidence and an avoidance problem-solving style. Depressive symptoms did not mediate the association between the ability to generate competent solutions to hypothetical stressful situations and disordered eating. Depressive symptoms appeared to influence responses to problem-solving inventories/coping checklists but had less of an influence on open-ended problem-solving measures.