Gaining "The Quarantine 15:" Perceived versus observed weight changes in college students in the wake of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Amidst restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19, jokes have surfaced regarding weight gain during the pandemic. The current study documents perceived changes since COVID-19 and compares these to observed longitudinal changes in reported weight, BMI, and how college students described their weight from January to April 2020. METHOD: Undergraduates (N = 90; 88% female) completed on-line assessments before and after students were required to leave campus due to COVID-19. Time 1 and Time 2 surveys collected demographic information, height, weight, and a Likert-scale rating to describe perceived weight, ranging from 1 = very underweight to 5 = very overweight (weight description). Time 2 surveys added questions for perceived changes since COVID-19 in body weight, eating, physical activity, various forms of screen time, and concerns about weight, shape, and eating. RESULTS: Time 2 surveys indicated perceived increases in body weight, eating, and screen time, and decreases in physical activity along with increased concerns about weight, shape and eating since COVID-19. Longitudinal data indicated no significant change in weight, body mass index (BMI), or BMI category, but how participants described their weight changed significantly from January to April 2020. Compared to longitudinal changes in BMI category, students' weight description was significantly more likely to fall into a higher category from Time 1 to Time 2. DISCUSSION: Shifts in how body weight is experienced in the wake of COVID-19 that do not align with observed changes in reported weight may reflect cognitive distortions that could increase risk for disordered eating in some individuals.

Acute suicidal affective disturbance and borderline personality disorder symptoms: Distinct yet correlated constructs.

OBJECTIVE: Acute Suicidal Affective Disturbance (ASAD) has been proposed to address the need for a suicide-specific diagnostic entity that better accounts for the psychological symptoms that may emerge during an acute suicidal crisis and that may precede imminent suicidal behaviors. However, additional research is needed to establish ASAD's delimitation from preexisting psychological disorders, especially disorders that include suicidal thoughts and behaviors in their diagnostic criteria such as borderline personality disorder (BPD). METHODS: We estimated two Gaussian graphical models (GGMs), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) models, and confirmatory factor analysis models in a sample of psychiatric outpatients (N = 460) to examine the structure of ASAD and BPD symptoms. RESULTS: Our estimated models showed while most ASAD and BPD symptoms largely shared associations with other symptoms belonging to their respective disorder construct, strong associations connected some ASAD symptoms with BPD symptoms, which, in a network model, emerged in the form of nonzero edges among those symptoms, and in EFA models, as factors that featured both ASAD and BPD symptoms as indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the network structure of the proposed criteria of ASAD features symptoms that are largely distinct to ASAD but do include symptoms that share meaningful correlations with BPD symptoms that suggest ASAD and BPD are correlated constructs.

Suicide Risk During COVID-19: Correlates of Peri-pandemic Suicidal Ideation Controlling for Pre-pandemic Ideation.

Suicide is a public health concern which warrants considerable attention, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study sought to examine the relationship between behavioral, psychological, and economic impacts of COVID-19 on suicidal ideation severity in a sample of 90 undergraduate students who completed a comprehensive survey on mental health in January 2020 and were re-assessed in April, June, and July of 2020. Multiple regression analyses showed that changes in experience of loneliness, loneliness due to social distancing, pandemic-related concerns, COVID contagion anxiety, and quarantining alone positively and significantly correlated with peri-pandemic suicidal ideation severity after accounting for pre-pandemic suicidal ideation and sexual orientation, while time spent talking to romantic partner and time spent talking to friends and family were negatively correlated. Findings provide insights into the psychological and behavioral effects of social distancing measures and the pandemic, but further research is needed to generalize findings. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41811-022-00140-2.