One year in: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on help-seeking behaviors among youth experiencing eating disorders and their caregivers

Candice Richardson; Suzanne Phillips; Georgios Paslakis

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114263

One year in: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on help-seeking behaviors among youth experiencing eating disorders and their caregivers

Psychiatry Res. 2021 Dec:306:114263. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114263. Epub 2021 Nov 3.

Authors

Candice Richardson¹, Suzanne Phillips², Georgios Paslakis³

Affiliations

¹ Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada; National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC), Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada.
² National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC), Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada.
³ Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, M5G 2C4, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada; Ruhr-University of Bochum, Medical Faculty, University Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Campus East-Westphalia, Virchowstraße 65, 32312, Luebbecke, Germany. Electronic address: georgios.paslakis@rub.de.

Abstract

We analyzed service utilization data from the National Eating Disorder Information Centre's (NEDIC) toll-free helpline/chat to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on help-seeking behaviors among youth with disordered eating and their caregivers. The number of contacts from affected youth (n = 650) and caregivers (n = 823) was significantly higher in the pandemic year than 2018 and 2019. The proportion of affected youth reporting dieting/restriction, perfectionism, and weight pre-occupation was significantly higher during the pandemic than in 2018 and 2019. Our findings lend support to accounts from expert clinicians reporting an increase in youth presenting with eating disordered symptoms during the pandemic.

Keywords: Adolescents; Comorbidity; Public health.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
COVID-19*
Caregivers
Feeding and Eating Disorders* / epidemiology
Feeding and Eating Disorders* / therapy
Help-Seeking Behavior*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2