Do Age and Symptoms of Anxiety, Stress and Depression Predict Risk Behaviors for Eating Disorders in Brazilian Men and Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study investigated the predicting role of age and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress on risk behavior for eating disorders in Brazilian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA web‐based cross‐sectional survey was administered during the COVID‐19 in Brazil. A total of 715 participants were recruited (237 men and 478 women) with a mean age of 29.20 (10.73) years from all regions of Brazil. The instruments used were the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) and eating attitudes test-26 (EAT-26). Data analysis was conducted through the independent t-test, Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression Analysis (p<.05). ResultsThe data showed significant differences between men and women for anxiety (p<.001), stress (p<.001), depression (p<.001), total DASS score (p<.001) and eating disorders (p<.001), indicating that women presented more symptoms in all variables. Depression, stress and DASS total score were significantly and positively associated with eating disorders (EDs) (r range= .16 to .21) for men and EDs was significantly and negatively associated with all dimensions of DASS and DASS total score (r range -.19 to -.22) for women. Multiple regression showed that DASS total score made the largest positive contribution to eating disorders for men (β= .17, p <.01) and women (β= .22, p <.001). ConclusionOur findings show that symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress predict risk behavior for eating disorders in Brazilian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.