Abstract

Background: Home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected the daily lives of millions of people around the world. It created a situation across the globe that is expected to affect human mental and physical health in different ways. For instance, it might increase the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs), a common health problem affecting both genders. The incidence of EDs during home confinement may be affected by stress and high exposure to social media.

Objective: To investigate the incidence of developing EDs among the Saudi population during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this study seeks to analyse the effect of stress and exposure to social media on the development of EDs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken from April 27 2020 to June 15 2020. A total of 1,867 adult residents of Saudi Arabia aged between 18-80 participated in this study, completing a self-reported questionnaire. A SCOFF questionnaire was used for ED screening, while the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used for measuring stress levels. Data were analysed using SPSS statistical software. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the demographic characteristics of the participants.

Results: Of the 1867 participants, 39.9% gave a positive SCOFF score. Approximately 40.9% of participants reported an increase in body weight during the quarantine. Most of them (80.8%) had a perception about ideal body shape, and more than half (58%) reported they thought about their figure more during the quarantine. A significant relationship has been noticed between the development of EDs and age (P-Value: 0.019), job (P-Value: 0.001), having a health condition that requires medication (P-Value: 0.021), being a smoker (P-Value: 0.001), and spending time on social media (P-Value: 0.001). Additionally, the level of stress (P-Value: 0.001), working from home during the home confinement (P-Value: 0.044), and the impact of the home confinement on monthly income (P-Value: 0.004) were found to have a significant relationship with having a positive screening for EDs.

Keywords:Mental Health; Underweight; Obesity; Anorexia; Bulimia; COVID-19

References

1. Stice E., et al. “Prevalence, incidence, impairment, and course of the proposed DSM-5 eating disorder diagnoses in an 8-year prospective community study of young women”. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2 (2013): 445.
2. Association AP. “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®)”. American Psychiatric Pub (2013).
3. Widiger TA. “Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders”. Oxford University Press (2000).
4. Fairburn CG., et al. “The natural course of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder in young women”. Archives of General Psychiatry7 (2000): 659-665.
5. Baenas I., et al. “COVID‐19 and eating disorders during confinement: Analysis of factors associated with resilience and aggravation of symptoms”. European Eating Disorders Review6 (2020): 855-863.
6. Manasse SM., et al. “Are individuals with loss‐of‐control eating more prone to dietary lapse in behavioural weight loss treatment? An ecological momentary assessment study”. European Eating Disorders Review3 (2018): 259-264.
7. Masheb RM., et al. “Binge abstinence is associated with reduced energy intake after treatment in patients with binge eating disorder and obesity”. Obesity 12 (2016): 2491-2496.
8. Cohen SB. “Media exposure and the subsequent effects on body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and drive for thinness: A review of the current research”. Mind Matters: The Wesleyan Journal of Psychology 1 (2006): 57-71.
9. Polivy J and CP Herman. “Causes of Eating Disorders”. Annual Review of Psychology1 (2002): 187-213.
10. Tiggemann M and AS Pickering. “Role of television in adolescent women's body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness”. International Journal of Eating Disorders2 (1996): 199-203.
11. Hardaway J., et al. “Integrated circuits and molecular components for stress and feeding: implications for eating disorders”. Genes, Brain and Behavior1 (2015): 85-97.
12. Brooks SK., et al. “The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence”. The Lancet (2020).
13. Rodgers RF., et al. “The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on eating disorder risk and symptoms”. International Journal of Eating Disorders (2020).
14. Musaiger AO., et al. “Risk of disordered eating attitudes among adolescents in seven Arab countries by gender and obesity: A cross-cultural study”. Appetite 60 (2013): 162-167.
15. Musaiger AO and M Al-Mannai. “Association between exposure to media and body weight concern among female university students in five Arab countries: a preliminary cross-cultural study”. Journal of Biosocial Science 2 (2014): 240-247.
16. Melisse B., et al. “Eating disorders in the Arab world: a literature review”. Journal of Eating Disorders1 (2020): 1-19.
17. Thomas J., et al. “Eating attitudes and body image concerns among female university students in the United Arab Emirates”. Appetite3 (2010): 595-598.
18. Zeeni N., et al. “Eating disorders in Lebanon: directions for public health action”. Community Mental Health Journal1 (2017): 117-125.
19. Haddad C., et al. “Association between eating behavior and quarantine/confinement stressors during the Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak” (2020).
20. Termorshuizen JD., et al. “Early impact of COVID‐19 on individuals with self‐reported eating disorders: A survey of~ 1,000 individuals in the United States and the Netherlands”. International Journal of Eating Disorders11 (2020): 1780-1790.
21. OECD, D.P.O.a. “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on jobs and incomes in G20 economies” (2020).
22. Leung, S., et al. “Factors associated with healthy and unhealthy workplace eating behaviours in individuals with overweight/obesity with and without binge eating disorder”. Obesity Science and Practice2 (2018): 109-118.
23. Ahmed MZ., et al. “Epidemic of COVID-19 in China and associated psychological problems”. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 51 (2020): 102092.
24. Kar SK., et al. “Coping with Mental Health Challenges During COVID-19, in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Therapeutics”. S.K. Saxena, Editor. Springer Singapore: Singapore (2020): 199-213.
25. Gao J., et al. “Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak”. Plos one4 (2020): e0231924.
26. Alkhamees AA., et al. “The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the general population of Saudi Arabia”. Comprehensive Psychiatry 102 (2020): 152192.
27. Wolor CW., et al. “How to Manage Stress Experienced by Employees When Working from Home Due to the Covid-19 Virus Outbreak”. International Journal of Advanced Scientific Technologies, Engineering and Management Sciences 29 (2020): 8359-8364.
28. Gibbons P. “The relationship between eating disorders and socioeconomic status: it's not what you think”. Nutrition Noteworthy1 (2001).
29. von dem Knesebeck O., et al. “Socioeconomic status and beliefs about depression, schizophrenia and eating disorders”. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology5 (2013): 775-782.
30. Solmi M., et al. “The association between smoking prevalence and eating disorders: A systematic review and meta‐analysis”. Addiction11 (2016): 1914-1922.
31. Jeffers AJ., et al. “BMI and depressive symptoms: The role of media pressures”. Eating Behaviors4 (2013): 468-471.
32. Musaiger AO and M Al-Mannai. “Role of obesity and media in body weight concern among female university students in Kuwait”. Eating Behaviors2 (2013): 229-232.
33. Ferris JE. “Parallel discourses and “appropriate” bodies: Media constructions of anorexia and obesity in the cases of Tracey Gold and Carnie Wilson”. Journal of Communication Inquiry3 (2003): 256-273.
34. Griffiths S., et al. “The contribution of social media to body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms, and anabolic steroid use among sexual minority men”. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 3 (2018): 149-156.
35. McLean SA and SJ Paxton. “Body image in the context of eating disorders”. Psychiatric Clinics1 (2019): 145-156.
36. Perloff RM. “Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research”. Sex Roles11-12 (2014): 363-377.
37. Swami V., et al. “COVID-19-related stress and anxiety are associated with negative body image in adults from the United Kingdom”. Personality and Individual Differences 170 (2021): 110426.
38. Robertson M., et al. “Exploring changes in body image, eating and exercise during the COVID-19 lockdown: A UK survey”. Appetite 159 (2021): 105062.
39. Pearl RL. “Weight stigma and the “Quarantine‐15”. Obesity 7 (2020): 1180-1181.
40. Peat CM., et al. “Body image and eating disorders in older adults: a review”. The Journal of General Psychology4 (2008): 343-358.
41. Stice E and K Whitenton. “Risk factors for body dissatisfaction in adolescent girls: a longitudinal investigation”. Developmental Psychology5 (2002): 669.
42. Di Renzo L., et al. “Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdown: an Italian survey”. Journal of Translational Medicine 18 (2020): 1-15.
43. Ammar A., et al. “Effects of COVID-19 home confinement on eating behaviour and physical activity: results of the ECLB-COVID19 international online survey”. Nutrients 6 (2020): 1583.
44. Rodríguez-Pérez C., et al. “Changes in dietary behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak confinement in the Spanish COVIDiet study”. Nutrients6 (2020): 1730.
45. Sidor A and P Rzymski. “Dietary choices and habits during COVID-19 lockdown: experience from Poland”. Nutrients6 (2020): 1657.

Citation

Citation: Khloud Ghafouri., et al. “The Effect of Home Confinement During COVID-19 on Stress and Eating Disorders in Saudi Arabia".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 5.10 (2021):.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Khloud Ghafouri., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.