COVID-19’s Impact on Eating Disorder and Mental Health Concerns in Patients with Eating Disorders
Abstract Background The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic dramatically transformed daily life for adolescents and young adults, altering social and physical environments. Previous research has shown such shifts in daily life to be especially challenging for people living with eating disorders (ED). However, the extent of this environmental change on ED symptoms and mental health (MH) has been relatively unexplored in patients with EDs. This study examines the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on ED and MH symptoms and motivation for ED recovery in adolescents/young adults. Methods Participants were enrollees in the Registry of Eating Disorders and their Co-morbidities OVER time in Youth (RECOVERY) who responded to an additional survey (n = 89) in July 2020 to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants reported concerns of their ED worsening due to living in a “triggering environment” due to the pandemic as well as COVID-related changes in intrusive ED thoughts, depression, anxiety, isolation, and motivation to recover. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age and ED diagnosis, examined the association of triggering environment with MH and ED symptoms. Results The majority of respondents reported concern for “triggering environment” (63%), as well as increased ED thoughts (74%) and feelings of anxiety (77%), depression (73%), and isolation (80%) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one-third reported decrease in motivation to recover (29%). After adjusting for age and ED diagnosis, participants who reported triggering environment had nearly 18 times the odds of decreased motivation to recover (OR 18.1; 95% CI 3.37–97.4, p = 0.003) and nearly 24 times the odds of increased ED thoughts (OR 23.8; 95% CI 4.31–131.6, p < 0.001) compared to those who did not report a triggering environment. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the self-reported MH and ED symptoms in patients with EDs, particularly in those who report concern for a negative environmental change. These results underscore the need for heightened monitoring of patients with EDs during the pandemic.