COVID Isolation Eating Scale (CIES): Analysis of the impact of confinement in eating disorders and obesity—A collaborative international study

Abstract

Confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a serious and complex impact on the mental health of patients with an eating disorder (ED) and of patients with obesity. The present manuscript has the following aims: (1) to analyse the psychometric properties of the COVID Isolation Eating Scale (CIES), (2) to explore changes that occurred due to confinement in eating symptomatology; and (3) to explore the general acceptation of the use of telemedicine during confinement. The sample comprised 121 participants (87 ED patients and 34 patients with obesity) recruited from six different centres. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) tested the rational-theoretical structure of the 872 FERN ANDEZ-ARANDA ET AL.

Risk and resilience factors for specific and general psychopathology worsening in people with Eating Disorders during COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective Italian multicentre study

“…Thus, in the present study we aimed to investigate potential risk factors associated with ED specific and general psychopathology worsening during the COVID-19 lock-down. In line with literature suggestions [ 10 , 16 , 19 , 22 ] and in order to provide a more comprehensive evaluation than those drawn in previous studies [ 10 , 16 ], different elements contributing to the stressful experience of the COVID-19 lockdown period (such as socio-economic condition, fear of contagion, isolation, satisfaction with family, friends or intimate relationships and perceived social support) as well as factors associated with illness (illness duration) and treatment (type of treatment and perceived therapeutic relationships during quarantine) were investigated. The latter variables were included in the model in the light of the effects of illness duration and treatment on the course of ED psychopathology [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…This implies that data were collected referring to a recently lasted period, thus possibly reducing recalling biases. Two previous studies [ 10 , 16 ] have assessed the variables predicting eating and general psychopathology changes during the COVID-19 lockdown period in people undergoing treatment for an ED. As in our study, participants in those two previous studies were affected by different ED diagnoses and were recruited among those undergoing treatment for an ED before the COVID-19 pandemic onset.…”

“…However, we conducted a multicentre investigation study, which included a number of participants markedly larger than those previous studies. Moreover, Baenas et al [ 16 ] performed a structured equational model revealing that COVID-related concerns, anxiety, depression and less adaptive coping strategies to confinement situation significantly contributed to a latent variable, which was associated with ED symptom worsening and partially accounted for the association between low self-directedness and ED symptoms outcome. Differently with that study, we assessed the contribution of manifested variables on psychopathological changes including also non COVID-related risk factors, such as illness duration, treatment and perceived quality or type of the therapeutic relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown period.…”

“…Differently with that study, we assessed the contribution of manifested variables on psychopathological changes including also non COVID-related risk factors, such as illness duration, treatment and perceived quality or type of the therapeutic relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Furthermore, unlike the previously conducted categorical assessment by Baenas et al [ 16 ], we employed a dimensional scoring of study measures: this allowed us to explore COVID-19 related psychopathological changes correcting for baseline symptomatology. Castellini et al [ 10 ] employed a different method of analysis to investigate longitudinal data and showed that insecure attachment (the anxious dimension in BN and the avoidant one in AN) and childhood traumatic experience significantly accounted for post-traumatic symptomatology during the COVID-19 lockdown period, while environmental factors (household arguments and fear of contagion) were associated with a higher increase in physical exercise and binge-eating.…”

“…Castellini et al [ 10 ] found that COVID-related factors, such as household arguments and fear for the safety of loved ones, were significant positive predictors of eating symptoms while individual related measures, such as insecure attachment and childhood trauma experiences, were positively associated with post-traumatic symptoms during quarantine. In another study [ 16 ], low self-directedness negatively predicted COVID-19-induced eating symptoms deterioration. However, some putative risk factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic were not taken into account in those works, which were also affected by their low sample size.…”