The Association of Perceived Vulnerability to Disease with Cognitive Restraint and Compensatory Behaviors.

Individual differences exist in perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD). PVD is associated with negative responses (e.g., disgust) towards individuals with obesity and heightened sensitivity regarding personal appearance. Through increasing fear of fat (FOF), PVD may be associated with cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors. We utilized an adult sample (n = 247; 53.3% male sex assigned at birth) recruited through Amazon's MTurk prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate associations between PVD, cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors. Participants completed the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale, Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale, Dutch Eating Behaviors Questionnaire, and Goldfarb's Fear of Fat Scale. Mediation analyses were used to test our hypotheses. Perceived infectability (PVD-Infection) was associated with cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors through increased FOF. Perceived germ aversion (PVD-Germ) was associated with cognitive restraint, but FOF did not mediate this association. Sex-stratified analyses revealed no significant sex differences. PVD may be an overlooked factor associated with cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors in males and females. FOF was an important mediating factor in these associations. Increased engagement in cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors may reflect attempts to reduce FOF. Future longitudinal research should explore whether PVD is a risk factor for cognitive restraint and compensatory behaviors.

Health-promoting behaviors in the United States during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The potential negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health-compromising behaviors including overeating, processed food intake, and alcohol use have been well documented. However, it is possible the COVID-19 pandemic has had positive effects on some health-promoting behaviors like cooking and fruit and vegetable intake. The current study was a preregistered secondary data analysis using data from a U.S. national, crowdsourced study (n = 868) on eating behaviors during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of the current study were to compare levels of cooking, fruit and vegetable intake, and physical activity among U.S. adults during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to pre-pandemic levels in reference groups of U.S. adults, and test whether subjective stress from the pandemic was associated with health-promoting behaviors by obesity status. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, participants cooked more often and ate 0.23 more cups of fruits and vegetables per day, but 28.8% fewer participants met federal physical activity guidelines. Greater COVID-19 stress was minimally to moderately associated with greater cooking, fruit and vegetable intake, and physical activity. The positive association between COVID-19 stress and fruit and vegetable intake was stronger for individuals with obesity. The COVID-19 pandemic might have encouraged U.S. adults, especially those at risk for complications, to engage in some health-promoting behaviors while creating barriers for other behaviors.

COVID-19 stress and eating and drinking behaviors in the United States during the early stages of the pandemic.

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has created widespread stress. Since many people cope with stress by eating, the current study investigated whether eating behaviors shifted among U.S. adults after the emergence of the pandemic. Data from national, crowdsourced surveys conducted on March 31st, 2020 and February 13th, 2019 were compared. Average levels of eating to cope and food addiction symptoms did not appear to shift during the early stages of the pandemic; however, U.S. adults ate about 14% more added sugars. Moreover, greater stress in response to the pandemic was associated with greater eating to cope, added sugars intake, food addiction symptoms, drinking to cope, and drinking frequency. These associations differed by the presence of state-level stay-at-home orders, perceived vulnerability to disease, age, U.S. political party affiliation, and gender. Although eating behaviors did not appear to majorly shift during the early stages of the pandemic, stress from the pandemic may intensify some maladaptive coping tendencies among U.S. adults.