Abstract
Background: COVID-19 lockdowns were linked to a surge in unhealthy food–related behaviors, potentially as an attempt to cope with disrupted social homeostasis. Here, we tested bidirectional associations between momentary psychological states and prospective food consumption and the moderation of these associations by quality and quantity of social interactions. Methods: We conducted a preregistered ecological momentary assessment study in Austria, Italy, and Germany during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Multiple times a day for 7 consecutive days, 798 participants (557 women, mean age = 31.88 years) reported on momentary stress; mood; wanting of food rich in sugar, fat, and salt; consumption and enjoyment since the last prompt; and quantity and quality of social interactions since the last prompt. Results: Momentary stress was positively linked to food wanting, but not to prospective food consumption. Mood valence and energetic arousal positively predicted prospective food consumption and enjoyment. The effect of mood valence was especially prominent when participants reported having more social interactions. Food consumption was linked to a prospective reduction in stress and an increase in calmness, suggesting that it has regulatory functions for affective states. Exploratory findings showed that some of these effects generalize to other reward types. Conclusions: During the lockdown, food may have been used to maintain an already positive affective state rather than upregulating an aversive state. Social facilitation of eating may have been especially prominent due to the prioritization of social needs at the start of an extraordinarily challenging period, possibly orchestrated by the postulated social homeostasis system.
| Originalsprache | Englisch |
|---|---|
| Seiten (von - bis) | 1002-1010 |
| Seitenumfang | 9 |
| Fachzeitschrift | Biological Psychiatry |
| Jahrgang | 97 |
| Ausgabenummer | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publikationsstatus | Veröffentlicht - 15 Mai 2025 |
Fördermittel
This work was supported by a COVID-19 Rapid Response grant from the University of Vienna (to CL), the Austrian Science Fund (Grant Nos. 10.55776/I3381 [to CL] and 10.55776/P36269 [to GS]), and the University Research Platform \u201CThe Stress of Life (SOLE) Processes and Mechanisms underlying Everyday Life Stress\u201D (to UMN, GS, and CL). This work was supported by a COVID-19 Rapid Response grant from the University of Vienna (to CL), the Austrian Science Fund (Grant Nos. 10.55776/I3381 [to CL] and 10.55776/P36269 [to GS]), and the University Research Platform \u201CThe Stress of Life (SOLE) Processes and Mechanisms underlying Everyday Life Stress\u201D (to UMN, GS, and CL). AS was responsible for formal analysis and writing the original draft of the article. AS, PF, CL, and GS were responsible for conceptualization. AS, PF, EP, and AF were responsible for software and data curation. AS and EP were responsible for validation. AS, PF, EP, AF, and GP were responsible for investigation. UMN, CL, and GS were responsible for resources, supervision, and funding acquisition. GS was responsible project administration. All authors were responsible for methodology and reviewing and editing the article. We thank Martin Pronizius for providing technical support and Luca Cipriano Wiltgen and all research assistants for assistance with data collection. This study is a part of a broader preregistered project on stress, mood, and behavior during the COVID-19 crisis (https://osf.io/gsvdf; hypotheses 2A\u2013C were tested in this article), other parts of which have been published elsewhere (25,31,49,53,54). The data, code, and analysis outputs for all analyses are available on the Open Science Framework (see https://osf.io/hsj6y/). The authors reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.
ÖFOS 2012
- 501010 Klinische Psychologie