The psychological impact of COVID-19 and lockdown measures among a sample of italian patients with eating disorders: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown greatly impact on mental health, especially on individuals with pre-existing psychiatric conditions.

Objectives

To explore the prevalence of specific psychiatric symptoms across a sample of patients with Eating Disorder (ED), compared to a group of healthy controls (HC), during the lockdown period in Italy, and to assess whether patients’ symptoms improved, persisted or worsened with the easing of the lockdown measures.

Methods

Study 1: 59 ED patients and 43 HC were recruited and completed, at the beginning of May 2020(t0), an online survey including: the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items (DASS-21), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and few ad-hoc questions extracted from the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Study 2: 40 ED patients from Study 1 completed the same survey two months after t0 (t1).

Results

Study 1: ED patients scored significantly higher than HC at the DASS-21 (Total Score and subscales), the IES-R (Total Score and subscales) and the PSS. Moreover, they showed higher distress specifically related to food and their body. Study 2: at t1, levels of stress, anxiety and depression were not different than at t0, but symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) improved, together with patients’ reported level of psychological wellbeing and specific ED symptomatology.

Conclusions

During lockdown, ED patients presented significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD-related symptoms, and ED-related symptoms than HC. With the easing of lockdown, PTSD-related and ED-related symptoms ameliorated, but high levels of stress, anxiety and depression persisted.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.