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Research Article
Sofia Ramalho
Psychotherapy and Psychopathology Research Unit – Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of Minho
Corresponding Author
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Declarations:
Declarations
- This study involved human subjects.
- The author confirmed that all appropriate ethical guidelines for the use of human subjects have been followed, any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee review has been obtained, and information about the IRB/ethics committee is included in the manuscript.
- The author has confirmed that all necessary patient/participant consent or assent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. If the IRB/ethics committee waived the requirement for patient/participant consent or assent, an explanation for the waiver is included in the text.
- The author has confirmed that a statement listing potential conflicts of interest or lack thereof is included in the text.
Objective: This study aims to explore associations between disordered eating behaviors in adults during the COVID-19 lockdown period, and the experienced psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, depressive symptomatology, anxiety/stress levels.
Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study assessing 254 Portuguese adults (82.7% women; 35.82 ±11.82 years) one week after the end of the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown in Portugal. An online survey was conducted to evaluate psychological distress, disordered eating, and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearson correlations and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were performed.
Results: Participants reported the presence of meal skipping (52.8%), grazing eating behavior (80.9%), overeating (81.0%), loss of control over eating (47.2%), and binge eating episodes (39.2%) during lockdown. Uncontrolled and emotional eating were significantly correlated with the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic, depression, anxiety, and stress levels. SEM analyses indicated that the relationship between experienced psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on disordered eating behaviors was mediated through psychological distress experienced (CMIN/DF= 1.499, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .045).
Conclusions: The psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis may lead to disordered eating, and this relation may occur through the elevation of psychological distress. These findings inform about clinical targets for preventive interventions to promote disordered eating in a community sample during potential similar future situations.
Keywords
COVID-19 Lockdown, Eating Behaviors, Psychological Distress, Mediation, SEM
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research Article
Sofia Ramalho
Psychotherapy and Psychopathology Research Unit – Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of Minho
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 2
Posted 15 Mar, 2021
No community comments so far
No comments provided
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Psychology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Declarations:
Declarations
- This study involved human subjects.
- The author confirmed that all appropriate ethical guidelines for the use of human subjects have been followed, any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee review has been obtained, and information about the IRB/ethics committee is included in the manuscript.
- The author has confirmed that all necessary patient/participant consent or assent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. If the IRB/ethics committee waived the requirement for patient/participant consent or assent, an explanation for the waiver is included in the text.
- The author has confirmed that a statement listing potential conflicts of interest or lack thereof is included in the text.
Objective: This study aims to explore associations between disordered eating behaviors in adults during the COVID-19 lockdown period, and the experienced psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, depressive symptomatology, anxiety/stress levels.
Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study assessing 254 Portuguese adults (82.7% women; 35.82 ±11.82 years) one week after the end of the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown in Portugal. An online survey was conducted to evaluate psychological distress, disordered eating, and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pearson correlations and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were performed.
Results: Participants reported the presence of meal skipping (52.8%), grazing eating behavior (80.9%), overeating (81.0%), loss of control over eating (47.2%), and binge eating episodes (39.2%) during lockdown. Uncontrolled and emotional eating were significantly correlated with the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic, depression, anxiety, and stress levels. SEM analyses indicated that the relationship between experienced psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on disordered eating behaviors was mediated through psychological distress experienced (CMIN/DF= 1.499, CFI = .99, RMSEA = .045).
Conclusions: The psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis may lead to disordered eating, and this relation may occur through the elevation of psychological distress. These findings inform about clinical targets for preventive interventions to promote disordered eating in a community sample during potential similar future situations.
Figure 1
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