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Throughout the pandemic of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, university students were considered a vulnerable risk group for mental health impairment and wellbeing deterioration. This study aimed at evaluating the pandemic’s impact on the physical and mental health and wellbeing among students of a Portuguese university. This cross-sectional study included 913 participants and ran from June to October 2020. Data collected included sociodemographics, three mental health self-report questionnaires (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire and Brief COPE) and lifestyle practices (eating and sleeping patterns, media, and entertainment habits) during the first months of the pandemic, which included a 72-day full national lockdown. Descriptive and correlational statistical analysis were conducted. Students’ food habits changed during the pandemic, namely on the consumption of snacks and fast food and, overall, less balanced meals became more prevalent. Additionally, almost 70% of the students reported Body Mass Index changes, while 59% went through sleep pattern changes–these were more pronounced in women and younger students. Over half (67%) of the inquirees exhibited an increase in their stress, depression, and generalized anxiety symptoms. Also, the study demonstrates that students’ lifestyles trended negatively during the pandemic and highlights how important regular psychological, health monitoring and emotional support is, amongst this somehow overlooked population throughout the pandemic. Universities should provide support to overcome challenges in future stressful situations. This study might have an impact on how universities and higher education systems approach their students in terms of mental and physical health monitoring and promotion in future situations, non-related with COVID. Moreover, it has a large sample of students well characterized in terms of mental and physical health, which might be of interest for future comparison with other worldwide group of students throughout stressful situations, such as tragic events, wars, pandemics.

Disordered eating, eating disorders, and lifestyle are complex and interconnected topics that intersect with various aspects of physical health, mental well-being, and societal influences [...].Disordered eating, eating disorders, and lifestyle are complex and interconnected topics that intersect with various aspects of physical health, mental well-being, and societal influences [...].

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) are behaviors relatively frequent among college students and seem to be associated to difficulties in emotion regulation. Less is known, however, about the relationship of NSSI with protective factors such as resilience and self-compassion. The aims of this study are to compare three groups of Portuguese college students (without NSSI, past NSSI, and current NSSI) regarding difficulties in emotion regulation, resilience, and self-compassion and to evaluate the predictors of NSSI considering demographics and those risk and protective factors. Three hundred and eighty-five college students were evaluated through self-report measures. Ninety participants (23.4%) reported lifetime NSSI. These participants reported higher difficulties in emotion regulation and lower resilience and self-compassion than the group without NSSI. The group with current NSSI presented the lowest levels of resilience and self-compassion. Lifetime NSSI was significantly associated with past suicide attempts. Past psychopathology and lower self-compassion were predictors of NSSI. Interventions for decrease NSSI in college students should promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies, resilience, and self-compassion.

Using the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA) battery in a non-clinical Portuguese population-based study, we aimed to examine a broad spectrum of emotional and behavioral problems and competencies, including picky eating and overeating behaviors in children and youth. Overall, 2687 children from 6 to 18 years old were evaluated by their parents, teachers and, in the case of children older than 11 years old, by themselves. Picky eating and overeating were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self Report (YSR). The frequency of picky eating and overeating was 23.1% and 24%, respectively. Picky eaters, compared with over eaters and non-picky/non-over eaters, tended to belong to the younger group of participants, and in turn, over eaters tended to belong to the older group. Overeating was significantly associated with overweight, which also emerged as a predictor of belonging to the overeating group. Both picky eaters and over eaters scored significantly higher on all emotional and behavioral problems and DSM-5-oriented subscales. The results of two independent binary logistic regression analyses indicated that internalizing and externalizing problems, together with the total problems score emerged as a predictor for both groups, including picky eater and overeater school-aged children. In accordance with previous studies, our results also supported the possibility that a broader pattern of potentially non-adaptive emotional and behavioral problems could also be associated with both pickiness and excessive eating. Highlights We found a picky eating and overeating frequency of 23.1 and 24% respectively. Picky eating was more common in younger children and overeating in older children. Overeating was significantly associated with lower socioeconomic status and overweight. Picky eating and overeating were associated to emotional and behavioral problems and DSM-5-oriented subscales. Internalizing and externalizing problems, together with total problems score, predicted picky eating and overeating.

Purpose Invalidating childhood environments have been characterised as those in which caregivers do not validate a child’s personal experiences and the communication of emotions is considered inappropriate, being either ignored or punished. The current study assessed the relationships among invalidating childhood environments, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating and difficulties in close relationships in a sample of college students. Methods In this study, 362 non-clinical participants with ages ranging from 17 to 25 years ( M  = 20.02, SD = 1.51) completed self-report measures. Results Difficulties in close relationships, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating were significantly higher in invalidating families than in validating families. Invalidating childhood environments were associated with higher body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, and both associations were mediated by difficulties in close relationships. Finally, body dissatisfaction mediates the effects of BMI and difficulties in close relationships on eating disorder symptoms. Conclusions Perceived experiences of invalidation in childhood may be associated with eating disorder symptomatology. In addition, difficulties in close relationships during adulthood possibly contribute to the emergence of eating disorder symptoms. Level of Evidence Level V, descriptive study.

The dimensional Yale Food Addiction Scale for Children 2.0 (dYFAS-C 2.0) was developed to provide a reliable psychometric measure for assessing food addiction in adolescents, in accordance with the updated addiction criteria proposed in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the dYFAS-C 2.0 among Portuguese adolescents and pre-adolescents and to explore the relationship between food addiction and other eating behaviors such as grazing and intuitive eating. The participants were 131 Portuguese adolescents and pre-adolescents (53.4% female and 46.6% male) aged between 10 and 15 years (Mage = 11.8) and with a BMI between 11.3 and 35.3 (MBMI z-score = 0.42). Confirmatory Factor Analysis demonstrated an adequate fit for the original one-factor model (χ2 (104) = 182; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.97; NFI = 0.94; SRMR = 0.101; RMSEA = 0.074; 95% CI [0.056; 0.091]). Food addiction was positively correlated with higher grazing (r = 0.69, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with lower reliance on hunger/satiety cues (r = −0.22, p = 0.015). No significant association was found between food addiction and BMI z-score, or between food addiction and age. The results support the use of dYFAS-C 2.0 as a valid and reliable measure for assessing food addiction in Portuguese adolescents and pre-adolescents. Furthermore, the findings highlight that food addiction may be part of a spectrum of disordered eating behaviors associated with control impairment. Future research with a larger sample size could further elucidate the associations between food addiction and other variables, such as psychological distress and multi-impulsive spectrum behaviors.

University students are a vulnerable population to the development of disordered eating, such as food addiction (FA) and grazing. FA is an emerging concept characterized by an intense desire to eat hyper-palatable foods. Grazing is characterized by the repetitive and unplanned ingestion of food throughout a period of time. Both FA and grazing have been associated with increased scores of negative urgency (NU) and difficulties in emotion regulation (ER). This study aims to evaluate the frequency of FA and grazing in a university population and to test the direct, total, and indirect effects—via FA—of ER and NU on repetitive eating and compulsive grazing. A total of 338 participants responded to a set of psychological measures assessing these variables. Thirty-six (10.7%) participants met the criteria for FA diagnosis and 184 (54.4%) presented grazing. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit indexes for the model tested (χ2(1695) = 3167.575; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.955; NFI = 0.908; TLI = 0.953; SRMR = 0.085; RMSEA = 0.051; CI 90% (0.048; 0.053); P[RMSEA ≤ 0.05] = 0.318) and suggested that FA partially mediated the effect of difficulties in ER and NU on grazing, specifically on compulsive grazing. The results indicate that individuals with difficulties in ER and impulse control under negative emotions are more likely to engage in grazing if food addiction scores are higher. These results highlight the importance of assessing these variables, particularly in at-risk populations such as university students.

Purpose The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the invalidating childhood environment scale (ICES) in a non-clinical and clinical sample of eating disorder (ED) patients. This study also investigated the between-sample differences regarding invalidating parental behaviors and family styles and explored the associations between invalidating childhood environments and eating pathology. Methods A sample of 410 high school and college students and 101 patients with a diagnosis of ED completed self-report measures. Principal component analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the ICES. The internal consistency and the between-sample differences and associations between invalidating childhood environments and eating pathology were also tested. Results Principal component analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicated a two-factor solution for each parent. The ICES demonstrated high internal consistency and was able to differentiate between non-clinical and clinical samples. The perception of parental invalidation was higher in ED patients, and the clinical sample presented higher scores in the chaotic and perfect family styles and lower scores in the validating family style, in comparison with the non-clinical sample. Both maternal invalidation and invalidating styles were significantly associated with a higher ED symptomatology. Conclusions The Portuguese version of the ICES revealed adequate psychometric properties. Considering the relationship between invalidation in family and eating pathology, the ICES may be useful in clinical practice, especially among ED patients. Level of Evidence Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Physical appearance comparisons have been theorized to be associated with negative indicators of body image. This study aimed to study appearance comparisons and their association to affect, body dissatisfaction, and eating pathology. Three hundred and ten female university students with ages between 17 and 25 years (M = 20.2, SD = 1.9) completed sociodemographic and clinical data, self-reported questionnaires, and questions about appearance comparisons. Among the participants, 98.71% reported making appearance comparisons, and 42.15% of these reported making them frequently or always. Higher reported frequencies of appearance comparisons were related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and eating pathology. Appearance comparisons to acquaintances were the most frequent. Comparisons in person and through media were reported in similar proportions. Upward comparisons were more frequent than lateral and downward comparisons and were related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction than downward comparisons and to higher levels of body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and eating pathology than lateral comparisons. Upward comparisons to close peers were associated with higher body dissatisfaction as opposed to models/celebrities. Results, limitations, and implications are discussed.