Eating behaviour and symptom trajectories in patients with a history of binge eating disorder during COVID‐19 pandemic

Objective A history of an eating disorder (ED) might constitute a risk for symptom deterioration and relapse during COVID‐19 pandemic. This longitudinal study investigates ED symptom trajectories until the first COVID‐19 lockdown in Spring 2020 in patients with a history of binge eating disorder (BED). Method Participants of the randomised‐controlled BED treatment trial IMPULS participated in a re‐assessment directly after the first COVID‐19 lockdown in Germany. We used expert‐rated clinical interviews and self‐report to investigate binge eating (BE) frequency, ED and general psychopathology, distress, emotion regulation and sense of coherence. Symptom trajectories were analysed for baseline when entering the trial, end of trial participation and the time point directly after lockdown. BE frequency was assessed on a recall basis for 4 weeks directly before lockdown and 4 weeks during lockdown. Results