The emotional-behavioral state of Israeli adolescent and young adult females with anorexia nervosa during the COVID19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, the number of patients with eating disorders (EDs) seeking treatment increased significantly. The present study sought to evaluate whether, during the pandemic (2020-21), patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) would show more ED-related, comorbid, and COVID-19-related symptoms in comparison to a naturalistic control group, and whether differences would be found between adult and adolescent patients with AN. We also examined attitudes to telemedicine use during the pandemic in patients receiving long-distance interventions. METHODS: Using online self-report questionnaires, we assessed general and COVID-19-specific symptoms with a secure digital platform (REDCap®) in 36 female adolescents with AN, 35 female adults with AN, and 25 female controls. RESULTS: Compared with controls, patients with AN showed more symptoms of EDs, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), elevated suicidal ideation, more COVID-related emotional-behavioral disturbances, and lower resilience. Adult patients with AN fared worse than adolescent patients on most of these measures. Adult patients using telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic showed fewer positive attitudes toward this treatment than adolescents (telemedicine was offered to all, but used by 18/35 adolescents and 21/36 adults with AN). Last, elevated COVID-19-related symptomatology was correlated with more symptoms of ED, anxiety, depression and PTSD, and with lower resilience. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the emotional-behavioral state of Israeli females with AN, particularly adults, was worse during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to controls. Many patients did not use telemedicine for their treatment. Adult patients using telemedicine were less satisfied with it than adolescent patients.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased rates of eating disorders in many countries around the globe, including Israel. Our study evaluated whether Israeli patients with anorexia nervosa would fare worse than a control group during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether adults and adolescents with anorexia nervosa would differ. For this purpose, we administered questionnaires to 71 females with anorexia nervosa­36 adolescents and 35 adults­and to a control group of 25 adolescent and young adult women. We found that females with anorexia nervosa showed not only more eating-disordered and psychiatrically-related symptoms, but also more pandemic-related disturbances than the control group. Among the patients with anorexia nervosa, adults fared worse than adolescents. Fifty-one percent of adolescents and 58% of adults with anorexia nervosa received treatment via telemedicine, although all were offered this treatment. Adults treated with telemedicine showed fewer positive attitudes toward it than adolescents. Last, more disordered eating and other psychiatric symptoms were associated with more COVID-19-specific disturbances. Our findings suggest that the emotional-behavioral state of female Israeli patients with anorexia nervosa is worse than that of control females during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in adults.