ArticleThe International journal of eating disorders2023
Risk and protective factors for new-onset binge eating, low weight, and self-harm symptoms in >35,000 individuals in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in The International journal of eating disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Genome-wide genetic overlap between fear-based disorders and generalised anxiety disorder.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Global Overview of Suicidal Behavior and Risk Factors among General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Regression.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Review
- Trends in the Observed Versus Expected Incidence of Eating Disorders Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Patient Registry Study.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Single-item patient-rated helpfulness and improvement as an alternative to standardized questionnaires for establishing anxiety and depression treatment efficacy.Psychological assessment · 2025Article
- Genomic links between symptoms of eating disorders and suicidal ideation.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- Trends in weight gain recorded in English primary care before and during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic: An observational cohort study using the OpenSAFELY platform.PLoS medicine · 2024Observational
- Review
- Risk and protective factors for new-onset binge eating, low weight, and self-harm symptoms in >35,000 individuals in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.The International journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
27 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with poor mental health, including increases in eating disorders and self-harm symptoms. We investigated risk and protective factors for the new onset of these symptoms during the pandemic.
methodData were from the COVID-19 Psychiatry and Neurological Genetics study and the Repeated Assessment of Mental health in Pandemics Study (n = 36,715). Exposures were socio-demographic characteristics, lifetime psychiatric disorder, and COVID-related variables, including SARS-CoV-2 infection/illness with COVID-19. We identified four subsamples of participants without pre-pandemic experience of our outcomes: binge eating (n = 24,211), low weight (n = 24,364), suicidal and/or self-harm ideation (n = 18,040), and self-harm (n = 29,948). Participants reported on our outcomes at frequent intervals (fortnightly to monthly). We fitted multiple logistic regression models to identify factors associated with the new onset of our outcomes.
resultsWithin each subsample, new onset was reported by: 21% for binge eating, 10.8% for low weight, 23.5% for suicidal and/or self-harm ideation, and 3.5% for self-harm. Shared risk factors included having a lifetime psychiatric disorder, not being in paid employment, higher pandemic worry scores, and being racially minoritized. Conversely, infection with SARS-CoV-2/illness with COVID-19 was linked to lower odds of binge eating, low weight, and suicidal and/or self-harm ideation. DISCUSSION: Overall, we detected shared risk factors that may drive the comorbidity between eating disorders and self-harm. Subgroups of individuals with these risk factors may require more frequent monitoring during future pandemics. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE: In a sample of 35,000 UK residents, people who had a psychiatric disorder, identified as being part of a racially minoritized group, were not in paid employment, or were more worried about the pandemic were more likely to experience binge eating, low weight, suicidal and/or self-harm ideation, and self-harm for the first time during the pandemic. People with these risk factors may need particular attention during future pandemics to enable early identification of new psychiatric symptoms.
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