ArticleJournal of eating disorders2022
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response on people with eating disorder symptomatology: an Australian study.
Article in Journal of eating disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 22 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental health-related presentations to Australian hospital emergency departments by children and young people, before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC emergency medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- COVID-19-related changes in eating disorder pathology, emotional and binge eating and need for care: a systematic review with frequentist and Bayesian meta-analyses.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Pooled it
- A Pilot Evaluation of a Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Program for Individuals With an Eating Disorder Waitlisted for Treatment.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Learning From Those Who Have Lived: A Scoping Review Exploring the Involvement of Lived Experience Co-Design in Eating Disorder Research Methodologies.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Identifying research priorities for paediatric nutrition for Australia: A Delphi consensus approach.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2025Article
- A transdiagnostic and translational framework for delineating the neuronal mechanisms of compulsive exercise in anorexia nervosa.The International journal of eating disorders · 2024Review
- Yoga as an adjunct treatment for eating disorders: a qualitative enquiry of client perspectives.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Disordered Eating Attitudes and Their Association with Age, BMI, Stress, and Diet in College Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Unveiling Lived Experiences: Exploring the Health and Lifestyle Effects of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Acute presentations of eating disorders among adolescents and adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2023Article
- When Eating Intuitively Is Not Always a Positive Response: Using Machine Learning to Better Unravel Eaters Profiles.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Mortality and mental health funding-do the dollars add up? Eating disorder research funding in Australia from 2009 to 2021: a portfolio analysis.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Eating disorder outcomes: findings from a rapid review of over a decade of research.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Chinese university students showed less disordered eating during the COVID-19 campus lockdown.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Article
- Has Anything Changed in the Frequency of Emergency Department Visits and the Profile of the Adolescent Seeking Emergency Mental Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic?Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Eating Disorders and Metabolic Diseases.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceptual disturbances and dysfunctional eating attitudes and behaviors: A review of the literature.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Review
- Implementing service transformation for children and adolescents with eating disorders across England: the theory, politics, and pragmatics of large-scale service reform.Journal of eating disorders · 2022Review
- Increase in admission rates and symptom severity of childhood and adolescent anorexia nervosa in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic: data from specialized eating disorder units in different European countries.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivePeople with lived experience of eating disorders (ED) may be particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health response due to exasperating situations such as social isolation, presence of other mental and physical health conditions, disruptions to treatment, etc. This study investigates the association of the pandemic with ED symptomatology to consider impact and identify risk factors for clinical consideration.
methodsParticipants with self-reported ED diagnosis and/or symptomatology over 16 years were invited to complete an online survey during the first months of the pandemic in Australia. Questions included history of ED, occurrence of co-occurring mental health conditions, change in ED symptoms since the start of the pandemic, and validated measures of ED illness, state mental health and loneliness.
resultsOf 1723 participants (mode age 24.9 years, 91.6% identifying as female, EDE-Q Global Score x = 4.08, SD = 1.18, 79.0% reporting co-occurring mental health condition, predominantly obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or anxiety), 88.0% reported an increase in body image concerns, 74.1% in food restriction, 66.2% binge eating and 46.8% driven exercise during the pandemic. Increased ED symptomatology was associated with poorer state mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) and loneliness across the ED symptom profile. Most participants were negatively impacted by various aspects of the public health response, more so for those with more acute ED illness as measured by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q).
conclusionsAssociated with the COVID-19 pandemic is a mental health crisis, particularly for those with a lived experience of an eating disorder. With 40.5% of participants not having sought formal diagnostic assessment and less than half in treatment, this study provides evidence for the detrimental impact of the pandemic on people with a lived experience of an eating disorder, especially for those not yet supported by the health care system.
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