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Review
. 2023 Feb;126(1):34-51.
doi: 10.1177/00332941211045315. Epub 2021 Nov 16.

COVID-19 and Eating Problems in Daily Life: The Mediating Roles of Stress, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Ruike Sheng  1 , Xiujie Yang  2 , Yuyang Zhou  3 , Xiaoyan Liu  2 , Wei Xu  4
Affiliations
Review

COVID-19 and Eating Problems in Daily Life: The Mediating Roles of Stress, Negative Affect and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms

Ruike Sheng et al. Psychol Rep. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge to individuals' mental health. People worldwide are experiencing increased stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, which may lead to eating problems. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the perceived severity of COVID-19 on eating problems and the mediating effects of stress/negative affect/posttraumatic stress symptoms both at the personal level and interpersonal level. Methods: During the COVID-19 outbreak, a total of 108 college students were recruited to report their perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and eating problems three times a day for seven consecutive days using Ecological Momentary Assessment. Results: State perceived severity of COVID-19 predicted fewer subsequent eating problems in daily life at the personal level. Both state negative affect and posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with eating problems in daily life. At the interpersonal level, trait-like perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively associated with overall eating problems. There were no mediating effects of stress/negative affect/posttraumatic stress symptoms on the relations between perceived severity of COVID-19 and eating problems at the personal/interpersonal level. Conclusions: The perceived severity of COVID-19, stress, negative affect, and posttraumatic stress symptoms might increase the risk of eating problems.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ecological Momentary Assessment; eating problems; negative affect; posttraumatic stress symptoms; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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