https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2021.557
The psychological impact of COVID-19 on people suffering from dysfunctional eating behaviours: a linguistic analysis of the contents shared in an online community during the lockdown
Submitted: June 23, 2021
Accepted: September 8, 2021
Published: December 20, 2021
Accepted: September 8, 2021
Abstract Views: 1911
PDF: 655
Appendix: 101
HTML: 31
Appendix: 101
HTML: 31
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread several months ago from China and it is now a global pandemic. The experience of lockdown has been an undesirable condition for people with mental health problems, including eating disorders. The present study has the aim of understanding the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with selfreported disordered eating behaviours. A linguistic analysis was carried out with regard to the online posts and comments published by 1971 individuals (86% women) in a Facebook online community focusing on EDs during the lockdown. A total of 244 posts and 3603 comments were collected during the 56 days of lockdown (from the 10th of March until the 4th of May 2020) in Italy and were analysed by Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. The results showed that words related to peer support decreased in posts over time, and that anxiety and anger increased in the published comments. Moreover, greater feelings of negativity and anxiety were found in posts and comments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as lesser use of words related to positive emotions. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed eight themes that described the main subjective components of ED symptomatology and distress during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The current findings can help in delivering tailored treatments to people with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Albano, G., Cardi, V., Kivlighan, D. M., Jr, Ambwani, S., Treasure, J., & Lo Coco, G. (2021). The relationship between working alliance with peer mentors and eating psychopathology in a digital 6-week guided self-help intervention for anorexia nervosa. The International journal of eating disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23559.
Baenas, I., Caravaca-Sanz, E., Granero, R., Sánchez, I., Riesco, N., Testa, G., Vintró-Alcaraz, G., ... & Fernández‐Aranda, F (2020). COVID-19 and eating disorders during confinement: Analysis of factors associated with resilience and aggravation of symptoms. European Eating Disorders Review, 28, 855-863. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2771.
Banerjee, D., & Rai, M. (2020). Social isolation in Covid-19: The impact of loneliness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(6), 525-527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020922269.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Branley-Bell, D., & Talbot, C. (2020). Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and UK lockdown on individuals with experience of eating disorders. Journal of Eating Disorders, 8(44). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00319-y.
Brown, S., Opitz, M.C., Peebles, A.I., Sharpe, H., Duffy, F., & Newman, E. (2021). A qualitative exploration of the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with eating disorders in the UK. Appetite, 1, 104977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.104977.
Carmack Taylor, C., Kulik, J., Badr, H., Smith, M., Basen-Engquist, K., Penedo, F. & Gritz, E. (2007). A social comparison theory analysis of group composition and efficacy of cancer support group programs. Social Science & Medicine, 65(2), 262-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.03.024.
Castellini, G., Cassioli, E., Rossi, E., Innocenti, M., Gironi, V., Sanfilippo, G., Felciai, F., ... & Ricca, V. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 epidemic on eating disorders: A longitudinal observation of pre versus post psychopathological features in a sample of patients with eating disorders and a group of healthy controls. International Journal of Eating Disorder, 53, 1855-1862. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23368.
Chesley, E. B., Alberts, J. D., Klein, J. D., & Kreipe, R. E. (2003). Pro or con? Anorexia nervosa and the Internet. Journal of Adolescent Health, 32(2), 123-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(02)00615-8.
Coppersmith, G., Dredze, M., & Harman, C. (2014). Quantifying mental health signals in twitter. In Proceedings of the workshop on computational linguistics and clinical psychology: From linguistic signal to clinical reality (pp. 51-60), New York: Red Hook.
Csipke, E., & Horne, O. (2007). Pro-eating disorder websites: users’ opinions. European Eating Disorders Review, 15, 196-206. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.789.
Fernandez-Aranda, F., Casas, M., Claes, L., Bryan, D. C., Favaro, A., Granero, R., Gudiol, C., ... & Treasure, J. (2020). COVID-19 and implications for eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 28, 239-245. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2738.
Gilbert, P. (2005). Compassion and cruelty: A biopsychosocial approach. In P. Gilbert (Ed.), Compassion: Conceptualisations, research and use in psychotherapy (pp. 9-74). London: Routledge.
Hao, F., Tan, W., Jiang, L., Zhang, L., Zhao, X., Zou, Y., Hu, Y., ... & Jiang, X. (2020). Do psychiatric patients experience more psychiatric symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown? A case-control study with service and research implications for immune psychiatry. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 87, 100-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.069.
Kaufman, K. R., Petkova, E., Bhui, K. S., & Schulze, T. G. (2020). A global needs assessment in times of a global crisis: world psychiatry response to the COVID-19 pandemic. BJPsych Open, 6(3), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2020.25.
Király, O., Potenza, M., Stein, D. J., King, D. L., Hodgins, D., Saunders, J., B., Griffiths, M. D., ... & Demetrovicsa, Z. (2020). Preventing problematic internet use during the COVID-19 pandemic: Consensus guidance. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 100, 152180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152180.
Li, Q., Guan, X., Wu, P., Wang, X., Zhou, L., Tong, Y., Ren, R., ... & Xiang, N., (2020). Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia. The New England Journal of Medicine, 382, 1199-1207. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316.
Liu, N., Zhang, F., Wei, C., Jia, Y., Shang, Z., Sun, L., & Liu, W. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of PTSS during COVID-19 outbreak in China hardest-hit areas: gender differences matter. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112921.
Liu, S., Yang, L., Zhang, C., Xiang, Y.T., Liu, S., Hu, S., & Zhang, B. (2020). Online mental health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30077-8.
Meyer, C., Taranis, L., Goodwin, H., & Haycraft, E. (2011). Compulsive exercise and eating disorders. European Eating Disorders Review, 19(3), 174-189. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.1122.
Moessner, M., Feldhege, J., Wolf, M., & Bauer, S. (2018). Analyzing big data in social media: Text and network analyses of an eating disorder forum. International Journal of Eating Disorder, 51(7), 656-667. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22878.
Monteleone, A. M., Cascino, G., Marciello, F., Abbate-Daga, G., Baiano, M., Balestrieri, M., Barone, E., ... & Monteleone, P. (2021). Risk and resilience factors for specific and general psychopathology worsening in people with Eating Disorders during COVID‑19 pandemic: a retrospective Italian multicentre study. Eating and Weight Disorders, 10, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-01097-x.
Nutley, S. K., Falise, A. M., Henderson, R., Apostolou, V., Mathews, C. A., & Striley, C. W. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disordered eating behavior: qualitative analysis of social media posts. JMIRMent Health, 8(1), e26011. https://doi.org/10.2196/26011.
Pennebaker, J.W., Boyd, R.L., Jordan, K., & Blackburn, K. (2015). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC 2015. Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Pišot, S., Milovanović, I., Šimunič, B., Gentile, A., Bosnar, K., Prot, F., ... & Drid, P. (2020). Maintaining everyday life praxis in the time of COVID-19 pandemic measures (ELP-COVID-19 survey). European Journal of Public Health, 30(6), 1181-1186. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa157.
Quittkat, H. L., Hartmann, A. S., Düsing, R., Buhlmann, U., & Vocks, S. (2019). Body dissatisfaction, importance of appearance and body appreciation in men and women over the lifespan. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 864. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00864.
Robertson, M., Duffy, F., Newman, E., Prieto Bravo, C., Huseyin Ates, H., & Sharpe, H. (2021). Exploring changes in body image, eating and exercise during the COVID-19 lockdown: A UK survey. Appetite, 159, 105062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2020.105062.
Rodgers, R. F., Lowy, A. S., Halperin, D. M., & Franko, D. L. (2016). A meta-analysis examining the influence of pro-eating disorder web-sites on body image and eating pathology. European Eating Disorders Review, 24(1), 3-8. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2390.
Rodgers, R.F., Lombardo, C., Cerolini, S., Franko, D.L., Omori, M., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. ... & Guillaume., S. (2020).The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on eating disorder risk and symptoms. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53, 1166-1170. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23318.
Rude, S., Gortner, E. M., & Pennebaker, J. (2004). Language use of depressed and depression-vulnerable college students. Cognition & Emotion, 18(8), 1121-1133. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930441000030.
Ruggieri, S., Ingoglia, S., Bonfanti, R., & Lo Coco, G. (2021). The role of Online Social Comparison as a protective factor for psychological wellbeing: A longitudinal study during the COVID-19 quarantine. Personality and Individual Differences, 171, 110486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110486.
Scharmer, C., Martinez, K., Gorrell, S., Reilly, E., Donahue, J., & Anderson, D. (2020). Eating disorder pathology and compulsive exercise during the COVID-19 public health emergency: Examining risk associated with COVID-19 anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53, 2049-2054. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23395.
Schlegl, S., Maier, J., Meule, A., & Voderholzer, U. (2020). Eating disorders in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from an online survey of patients with anorexia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53, 1791-1800. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23374.
Su, Y., Xue, J., Liu, X., Wu, P., Chen, J., Chen, C., Liu, T., Gong, W., & Zhu, T. (2020). Examining the Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown in Wuhan and Lombardy: A Psycholinguistic Analysis on Weibo and Twitter. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 4552. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124552.
Swinbourne, J. M., & Touyz, S. W. (2007). The co-morbidity of eating disorders and anxiety disorders: A review. European Eating Disorders Review, 15(4), 253-274. https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.784.
Tausczik, Y.R., & Pennebaker, J.W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, 24-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X09351676.
Termorshuizen, J. D., Watson, H. J., Thornton, L. M., Borg, S., Flatt, R. E., Mac Dermod, C. M., Harper, L.E., ... & Bulik, C. M. (2020). 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 Disorders, 53(11), 1780-1790. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23353.
Twenge, J., & Joiner, T. E. (2020). Mental distress among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/wc8ud.
Vuillier, L., May, L., Greville-Harris, M., Surman R., & Moseley, R. L. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with eating disorders: the role of emotion regulation and exploration of online treatment experiences. Journal of Eating Disorders, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00362-9.
Walker, M., Thornton, L., De Choudhury, M., Teevan, J., Bulik, C. M., Levinson, C. A., & Zerwas, S. (2015). Facebook use and disordered eating in college-aged women. Journal of Adolescent Health, 57(2), 157-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2015.04.026.
Waller, G., Pugh, M., Mulkens, S., Moore, E., Mountford, V. A., Carter, J., Wicksteed, A., ... & Smit, V. (2020). Cognitive-behavioral therapy in the time of coronavirus: Clinician tips for working with eating disorders via telehealth when face-to-face meetings are not possible. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23289.
We are social (2020). Digital around the World in April 2020. (2020). We are social 2020. Available from: https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/04/digital-around-the-world-in-april-2020
Weissman, R. S., Bauer, S., & Thomas, J. J. (2020). Access to evidence-based care for eating disorders during the COVID-19 crisis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53(5), 369-376. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23279.
Weissman, R., Klump, K., & Rose, J. (2020). Conducting eating disorders research in the time of COVID-19: A survey of researchers in the field. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 53, 1171-1181. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23303.
Xiong, J., Lipsitz, O., Nasri, F., Lui, L. M., Gill, H., Phan, L., Chen-Li, D., ... & McIntyre, R. S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 55-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.001.
How to Cite
Albano, G., Bonfanti, R. C., Gullo, S., Salerno, L., & Lo Coco, G. (2021). The psychological impact of COVID-19 on people suffering from dysfunctional eating behaviours: a linguistic analysis of the contents shared in an online community during the lockdown. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 24(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2021.557
Copyright (c) 2021 the Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Anna Dourdouma, Kathrin Mörtl, The Creative Journey of Grounded Theory Analysis: A Guide to its Principles and Applications , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 15 No. 2 (2012)
- Irene Messina, Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Psychotherapists’ perception of their clinical skills and in-session feelings in live therapy versus online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a pilot study , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 24 No. 1 (2021)
- Annalisa Tanzilli, Antonello Colli, Laura Muzi, Vittorio Lingiardi, Clinician Emotional Response Toward Narcissistic Patients: A Preliminary Report , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 18 No. 1 (2015)
- Alessia Renzi, Rachele Mariani, Michela Di Trani, Renata Tambelli, Giving words to emotions: the use of linguistic analysis to explore the role of alexithymia in an expressive writing intervention , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 23 No. 2 (2020)
- Agata Andò, Marzia Di Girolamo, Claudia Pignolo, Alessandro Zennaro, Luciano Giromini, Amedeo Minichino, Adriana Salatino, Rosalba Morese, Personality features and vulnerability to stress: a case study on hyperhidrosis , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 22 No. 1 (2019)
- Irene Messina, Salvatore Gullo, Omar Carlo Gioacchino Gelo, Cecilia Giordano, Silvia Salcuni, An overview of the Italian contribution to the international multisite SPRISTAD study on psychotherapy training , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 22 No. 3 (2019)
- Lylli Cain, Hana Perkey, Sabina Widner, J. Aaron Johnson, Zachary Hoffman, Jenelle Slavin-Mulford, You really are too kind: implications regarding friendly submissiveness in trainee therapists , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 21 No. 2 (2018)
- Leandro Martín Casari, Mirta Susana Ison, Beatriz Margarita María Gómez, Personal style of the therapist and personality dimensions in a sample of Argentinian therapists , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 22 No. 2 (2019)
- Diego Rocco, Alessandro Gennaro, Lorena Filugelli, Patrizia Squarcina, Elena Antonelli, Key factors in psychotherapy training: an analysis of trainers’, trainees’ and psychotherapists’ points of view , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 22 No. 3 (2019)
- Alessandro Gennaro, Miguel Goncalves, Inès Mendes, Antònio Ribeiro, Sergio Salvatore, Dynamics of sense-making and development of the narrative in the clinical exchange , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 14 No. 1 (2011)
<< < 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 > >>
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
