Coronavirus stress and overeating: the role of anxiety and COVID-19 burnout

Ruining Wang; Baojuan Ye; Peiyi Wang; Chunyan Tang; Qiang Yang

doi:10.1186/s40337-022-00584-z

Coronavirus stress and overeating: the role of anxiety and COVID-19 burnout

J Eat Disord. 2022 May 1;10(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s40337-022-00584-z.

Authors

Ruining Wang^#¹, Baojuan Ye^#¹, Peiyi Wang^#², Chunyan Tang³, Qiang Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Center of Mental Health Education and Research, Preschool Education Research Center, School of Psychology, School of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, 99 Ziyang Avenue, Nanchang, 330022, China.
² Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, 92617, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA.
³ Health Education and Counseling Center, Jiangxi Health Vocational College, Nanchang, China. 332340630@qq.com.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: This study examined the role of anxiety and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) burnout in the relationship between coronavirus stress and overeating among Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Chinese college students (N = 2926; M_age = 19.90, SD = 1.47, range = 18-25 years old; 54.34% female) completed self-reported online questionnaires regarding coronavirus stress, anxiety, COVID-19 burnout, and overeating.

Results: Anxiety showed partially indirect effect on the association between coronavirus stress and overeating. COVID-19 burnout exacerbated the indirect pathway between coronavirus stress and overeating via anxiety.

Discussion and conclusion: This is the first study, to our knowledge, that examines the underlying mechanisms of the coronavirus stress and overeating behavior association among Chinese college students. The results support several existing theories on stress and problematic eating behaviors and provide practical implications for prevention and intervention programs of overeating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; COVID-burnout; College students; Coronavirus stress; Overeating.

Plain language summary

One’s response is not arbitrary when confronted with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Previous research has found that individuals with coronavirus stress still be more prone to overeat. We also know from other research that anxiety is the most salient aspect of overeating. However, no research has investigated whether the coronavirus stress of college students is significantly associated with overeating and examine the potential indirect pathway and moderating mechanisms in this association. With the aid of 2926 participants, we found that, coronavirus stress was linked to college students’ overeating. We also found that this relationship was partially explained by anxiety. In addition, the association between anxiety and overeating was stronger for those with higher COVID-19 burnout. This study is an important step in unpacking how coronavirus stress relates to overeating of Chinese college students. However, they are limited by the cross-sectional nature of the study, meaning we cannot imply causality. We recommend that further research replicate our findings in people with diagnosed feeding and eating disorders using a longitudinal design.

Abstract

Plain language summary

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