The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on eating disorder risk and symptoms
Open accessAbstract
The current COVID‐19 pandemic has created a global context likely to increase eating disorder (ED) risk and symptoms, decrease factors that protect against EDs, and exacerbate barriers to care. Three pathways exist by which this pandemic may exacerbate ED risk. One, the disruptions to daily routines and constraints to outdoor activities may increase weight and shape concerns, and negatively impact eating, exercise, and sleeping patterns, which may in turn increase ED risk and symptoms. Relatedly, the pandemic and accompanying social restrictions may deprive individuals of social support and adaptive coping strategies, thereby potentially elevating ED risk and symptoms by removing protective factors. Two, increased exposure to ED‐specific or anxiety‐provoking media, as well as increased reliance on video conferencing, may increase ED risk and symptoms. Three, fears of contagion may increase ED symptoms specifically related to health concerns, or by the pursuit of restrictive diets focused on increasing immunity. In addition, elevated rates of stress and negative affect due to the pandemic and social isolation may also contribute to increasing risk. Evaluating and assessing these factors are key to better understanding the impact of the pandemic on ED risk and recovery and to inform resource dissemination and targets.
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There was a general risk of increased eating disorders during the pandemic.
“The latter result is in line with a general risk of increased eating disorders during the pandemic (70).”
From Digital Media Use and Adolescents' Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2022) · cites this paper as [70]
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- Authors
- Rodgers, R. F., Lombardo, C., Cerolini, S., Franko, D. L., Omori, M., Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M., Linardon, J., Courtet, P., & Guillaume, S.
- Affiliations
- Northeastern University (US)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- Ochanomizu University (JP)
- Deakin University (AU)
- Hôpital Lapeyronie (FR)
- Department of Psychiatric Emergency & Acute Care Lapeyronie Hospital, CHRU Montpellier Montpellier France
- Corresponding author
- Rodgers, Rachel F.
- ORCID
- Venue
- International Journal of Eating Disorders
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-06
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1166-1170
- ISSN
- 0276-3478 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-108X
- PMC
- PMC7300468
- OpenAlex
- W3030981292
- Cited by
- 650
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 63 · 2023: 90 · 2022: 269 · 2021: 124 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 50.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Eating Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, eating disorders, eating disorder risk, eating disorder symptoms, social isolation, social support, coping strategies, media exposure, videoconferencing, fear of contagion, restrictive diets, stress, barriers to care, weight and shape concerns
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adaptation, Psychological, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Fear, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Male, Pneumonia, Viral, Quarantine, Risk Factors, Exercise, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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