“What Made My Eating Disorder Worse?” The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Original Questionnaire and Adjustments
2.3. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Sample Characteristics
3.2. Changes in AN Symptomatology
3.3. Changes in Social Media Use, Mirror Checking, Cooking, and Conflicts with Parents
3.4. Remote Treatment
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Mean Age | Years (SD) 15.1 (1.7), Range 12–18 | |
---|---|---|
Type of treatment | Current (n/%) | Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (n/%) |
None | 0 | 29/76.3 |
Outpatient | 9/23.7 | 7/18.4 |
Inpatient | 27/71.1 | 1/2.6 |
Day patient | 1/2.6 | 0 |
Home treatment | 1/2.6 | 0 |
Not specified | 0 | 1/2.6 |
Average length of treatment in months (SD) | - | 11.6 (16.3) range: 2–48 |
Comorbidities (self-report) | ||
Depressive symptoms | 12/31.6 | |
Anxiety disorder | 5/13.2 | |
Social phobia | 5/13.2 | |
Obsessive–compulsive disorder | 2/5.3 | |
Other | 3/7.9 | |
More than one comorbidity | 10/26.3 |
Pre | Current | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n = 38 | Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | p | │d│ |
BMI | 20.1 | (3.1) | 17.4 | (2.3) | <0.001 | 0.78 |
Impact on ED symptoms (F1) | 11.8 | (5.4) | 18.2 | (5.2) | <0.001 | 0.99 |
Changes—eating related style (F2) | 7.5 | (5.8) | 8 | (6.1) | 0.65 | 0.08 |
Changes—depression/anxiety (F3) | 11.6 | (7.7) | 18.4 | (8.7) | <0.001 | 0.91 |
Changes—emotional regulation (F4) | 5.8 | (3.7) | 8.5 | (5.0) | <0.001 | 0.98 |
Pre | Current | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | (SD) | Mean | (SD) | p | │d│ | |
Engaging in social media glorifying AN (“pro-ANA”) | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.016 | 0.41 |
Following models and influencers on social media | 1.9 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.002 | 0.54 |
Using apps for weight loss | 0.8 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 0.002 | 0.56 |
Preoccupied with cooking recipes | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.001 | 0.62 |
Preoccupied with cooking | 2.3 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.201 | 0.21 |
Mirror checking | 2.5 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | <0.001 | 0.65 |
Conflicts with parents—due to eating | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 1.0 | <0.001 | 0.95 |
Conflicts with parents—not due to eating | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.474 | 0.12 |
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Gilsbach, S.; Herpertz-Dahlmann, B. “What Made My Eating Disorder Worse?” The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa. Nutrients 2023, 15, 1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051242
Gilsbach S, Herpertz-Dahlmann B. “What Made My Eating Disorder Worse?” The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa. Nutrients. 2023; 15(5):1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051242
Chicago/Turabian StyleGilsbach, Susanne, and Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann. 2023. "“What Made My Eating Disorder Worse?” The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa" Nutrients 15, no. 5: 1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051242
APA StyleGilsbach, S., & Herpertz-Dahlmann, B. (2023). “What Made My Eating Disorder Worse?” The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa. Nutrients, 15(5), 1242. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15051242