Snacking and anxiety during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a prospective cohort study

Esther Curtin; Laura Johnson; Ruth E Salway; Elanor C Hinton

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2023.106491

Snacking and anxiety during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a prospective cohort study

Esther Curtin^*, Laura Johnson, Ruth E Salway, Elanor C Hinton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Anxiety and snacking increased during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, but it remains unknown whether this change in snacking persisted and if it related to anxiety levels. We used prospective data to examine changes in snacking frequency from t1 (eased restrictions in England in May-June 2020) to t2 (national lockdown in December 2020-March 2021), the association of anxiety (assessed by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire at t1) with the snacking change, and the mediating and moderating effects of disinhibition and flexible restraint (assessed by the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire in 2016-17). Analyses including 2128 adults (mean age 28.4 y) residing in England from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children showed that snacking frequency increased over time (mean change 1.23 (95% CI 0.81, 1.65) snacks/wk). Linear regressions of snacking adjusted for sociodemographic covariates showed that having clinical levels of generalised anxiety at t1, versus not, was associated with 1.22 (95% CI 0.07, 2.37) more snacks/wk at t2. Disinhibition partially mediated the association between Generalised Anxiety Disorder and snacking (βindirect = 0.15, 95% CI 0.01, 0.32), while there was no evidence that flexible restraint moderated the association (β = 0.05, 95% CI -0.57, 0.66). Our longitudinal findings highlight a detrimental anxiety-snacking association partly operating via disinhibition, suggesting future research could target mitigating anxiety and disinhibited eating behaviours to benefit diet-related outcomes following the pandemic.

Original language	English
Article number	106491
Number of pages	8
Journal	Appetite
Volume	183
Early online date	10 Feb 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2023.106491
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust and MRC , grant number: 02215/2/13/2 ; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust ; and the University of Bristol . The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 217065/Z/19/Z ) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. A comprehensive list of grant funding is available on the ALSPAC website ( http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf ). This publication is the work of the authors and ELC, LJ, RS and ECH will serve as guarantors for the contents of this paper. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Research Groups and Themes

SPS Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences

Keywords

Anxiety
COVID 19
Diet
Eating behaviour
Mental health
snacking

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Snacking and anxiety during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a prospective cohort study",

abstract = "Anxiety and snacking increased during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, but it remains unknown whether this change in snacking persisted and if it related to anxiety levels. We used prospective data to examine changes in snacking frequency from t1 (eased restrictions in England in May-June 2020) to t2 (national lockdown in December 2020-March 2021), the association of anxiety (assessed by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire at t1) with the snacking change, and the mediating and moderating effects of disinhibition and flexible restraint (assessed by the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire in 2016-17). Analyses including 2128 adults (mean age 28.4 y) residing in England from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children showed that snacking frequency increased over time (mean change 1.23 (95% CI 0.81, 1.65) snacks/wk). Linear regressions of snacking adjusted for sociodemographic covariates showed that having clinical levels of generalised anxiety at t1, versus not, was associated with 1.22 (95% CI 0.07, 2.37) more snacks/wk at t2. Disinhibition partially mediated the association between Generalised Anxiety Disorder and snacking (βindirect = 0.15, 95% CI 0.01, 0.32), while there was no evidence that flexible restraint moderated the association (β = 0.05, 95% CI -0.57, 0.66). Our longitudinal findings highlight a detrimental anxiety-snacking association partly operating via disinhibition, suggesting future research could target mitigating anxiety and disinhibited eating behaviours to benefit diet-related outcomes following the pandemic.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust and MRC , grant number: 02215/2/13/2 ; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust ; and the University of Bristol . The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 217065/Z/19/Z ) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. A comprehensive list of grant funding is available on the ALSPAC website ( http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf ). This publication is the work of the authors and ELC, LJ, RS and ECH will serve as guarantors for the contents of this paper. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

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T2 - a prospective cohort study

AU - Curtin, Esther

AU - Johnson, Laura

AU - Salway, Ruth E

AU - Hinton, Elanor C

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust and MRC , grant number: 02215/2/13/2 ; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust ; and the University of Bristol . The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 217065/Z/19/Z ) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. A comprehensive list of grant funding is available on the ALSPAC website ( http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/external/documents/grant-acknowledgements.pdf ). This publication is the work of the authors and ELC, LJ, RS and ECH will serve as guarantors for the contents of this paper. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health and Social Care. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors

PY - 2023/4/1

Y1 - 2023/4/1

N2 - Anxiety and snacking increased during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, but it remains unknown whether this change in snacking persisted and if it related to anxiety levels. We used prospective data to examine changes in snacking frequency from t1 (eased restrictions in England in May-June 2020) to t2 (national lockdown in December 2020-March 2021), the association of anxiety (assessed by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire at t1) with the snacking change, and the mediating and moderating effects of disinhibition and flexible restraint (assessed by the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire in 2016-17). Analyses including 2128 adults (mean age 28.4 y) residing in England from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children showed that snacking frequency increased over time (mean change 1.23 (95% CI 0.81, 1.65) snacks/wk). Linear regressions of snacking adjusted for sociodemographic covariates showed that having clinical levels of generalised anxiety at t1, versus not, was associated with 1.22 (95% CI 0.07, 2.37) more snacks/wk at t2. Disinhibition partially mediated the association between Generalised Anxiety Disorder and snacking (βindirect = 0.15, 95% CI 0.01, 0.32), while there was no evidence that flexible restraint moderated the association (β = 0.05, 95% CI -0.57, 0.66). Our longitudinal findings highlight a detrimental anxiety-snacking association partly operating via disinhibition, suggesting future research could target mitigating anxiety and disinhibited eating behaviours to benefit diet-related outcomes following the pandemic.

AB - Anxiety and snacking increased during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdowns, but it remains unknown whether this change in snacking persisted and if it related to anxiety levels. We used prospective data to examine changes in snacking frequency from t1 (eased restrictions in England in May-June 2020) to t2 (national lockdown in December 2020-March 2021), the association of anxiety (assessed by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire at t1) with the snacking change, and the mediating and moderating effects of disinhibition and flexible restraint (assessed by the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire in 2016-17). Analyses including 2128 adults (mean age 28.4 y) residing in England from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children showed that snacking frequency increased over time (mean change 1.23 (95% CI 0.81, 1.65) snacks/wk). Linear regressions of snacking adjusted for sociodemographic covariates showed that having clinical levels of generalised anxiety at t1, versus not, was associated with 1.22 (95% CI 0.07, 2.37) more snacks/wk at t2. Disinhibition partially mediated the association between Generalised Anxiety Disorder and snacking (βindirect = 0.15, 95% CI 0.01, 0.32), while there was no evidence that flexible restraint moderated the association (β = 0.05, 95% CI -0.57, 0.66). Our longitudinal findings highlight a detrimental anxiety-snacking association partly operating via disinhibition, suggesting future research could target mitigating anxiety and disinhibited eating behaviours to benefit diet-related outcomes following the pandemic.

KW - Anxiety

KW - COVID 19

KW - Diet

KW - Eating behaviour

KW - Mental health

KW - snacking

U2 - 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106491

DO - 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106491

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 36775067

SN - 0195-6663

VL - 183

JO - Appetite

JF - Appetite

M1 - 106491

ER -

Snacking and anxiety during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Research Groups and Themes

Keywords

UN SDGs

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