How COVID-19 lockdown measures could impact patients with bulimia nervosa: Exploratory results from an ongoing experience sampling method study

Objective: The impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on patients with an eating disorder remains unclear, but preliminary results indicate that some patients could be more vulnerable to experience an increase in eating disorder pathology than others. To provide possible directions for future research, this report explored the impact of the Belgian COVID-19 lockdown measures on patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). Methods: The data of 15 female patients with BN from an ongoing experience sampling method study were analyzed. Mixed effects models compared surroundings, social context, negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA) and binge eating before and after the implementation of the lockdown measures. Results: After the implementation of the lockdown measures, significant changes in surroundings and social context were found as well as an increase in NA and decrease in PA. Patients who experienced a higher binge eating frequency during the lockdown also experienced a stronger change in NA and PA. Conclusions: Future research should also look at changes in surroundings, social context, affect and how these interact with factors such as personality traits and coping styles when investigating why some patients are more susceptible to the negative effects of lockdown measures than others.

Automated summary

The study explored the impact of COVID-19 lockdown measures on patients with bulimia nervosa, finding that patients with higher binge eating frequency during the lockdown experienced stronger changes in negative affect and positive affect. Future research should focus on how surroundings, social context, affect, personality traits, and coping styles interact to determine why some patients are more vulnerable to the negative effects of lockdown measures.