Abstract
Objective: This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on young women's disordered eating and their responses to online interventions to reduce disordered eating. Method: University students at risk of developing an eating disorder (N = 100) were randomly assigned to either receiving an online intervention to reduce disordered eating or not. Forty-one participants entered the study from September 2019 to March 2020 (pre-COVID) and 59 after physical distancing was introduced due to COVID pandemic (during COVID). Online assessments were conducted at baseline and 1-week follow up. Results: There was a significant increase in weight concerns, disordered eating, and negative affect among participants entering the trial during COVID compared to pre-COVID. The increases in the first two variables remained when adjusting for baseline negative affect. No significant interactions between time, condition and COVID status were observed. Discussion: Young women experienced increased levels of disordered eating after the onset of COVID. While no interactions with COVID were detected, changes to within-group effect sizes for disordered eating more than doubled for both online interventions and assessment from pre-COVID to during COVID, suggesting any attention to issues related to disordered eating in the context of reduced social contact may be beneficial.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1283-1288 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | International Journal of Eating Disorders |
Volume | 54 |
Issue number | 7 |
Early online date | 13 Apr 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2021 |
Keywords
- body dissatisfaction
- COVID-19
- disordered eating
- self-compassion