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Abstract Background Burnout among healthcare professionals is a serious problem with multiple consequences for the individuals and organizations affected. Thus, accessible and effective interventions are still needed to prevent and attenuate burnout. Self-compassion has recently been well supported in preventing and reducing burnout in various professions. Current research also demonstrated protective associations between self-compassion and well-being and/or psychological health indicators. Few studies are available on this topic during the COVID-19 pandemic or on healthcare workers from Quebec or Canada. Moreover, only a limited number of studies have looked at the associations of self-compassion with physiological variables. This cross-sectionnal correlational study attempts to evaluate the association between self-compassion and burnout, among healthcare workers from Quebec (Canada) during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 416 participants). Associations between their respective components are also tested. A secondary objective is to evaluate if self-compassion is also associated with a set of 38 biomarkers of inflammation (n = 83 participants), potentially associated with the physiological stress response according to the literature. Participants meeting eligibility criteria (e.g.: residing in the province of Quebec, being 18 years of age or older, speaking French, and having been involved in providing care to COVID-19 patients) were recruited online. Participants completed the Occupational Health and Well-being Questionnaire, and some participated in a blood sample collection protocol. Results Results showed significant negative associations between self-compassion, exhaustion, and depersonalization, and a significant positive correlation with professional efficacy. Some self-compassion subscales (mindfulness, self-judgment, isolation, overidentification) were significantly negatively associated with certain biomarkers, even after controlling for confounding variables. Conclusions This study adds to the existing literature by supporting the association of self-compassion with burnout, and reveals associations between self-compassion and physiological biomarkers related to the stress response. Future research directions are discussed.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors in adolescents. To better understand these associations, this study tested an explanatory model in which appearance-focused social media use, internalization of social media pressure, and mindfulness abilities mediated the relationship between COVID-related distress and body dissatisfaction, which in turn was associated with dietary restraint and binge eating episodes. Methods Adolescents (N = 493, M age= 16.7; 47.5% girls) recruited within high schools completed online measures. We conducted model testing through path analysis in MPlus, using modification indices to derive a well-fitting model. Results The initially hypothesized model was a poor fit for the data. The final well-adjusted model confirmed several significant paths and supported the parallel mediational roles of social media (specifically, the use of appearance-focused social media and internalization of social media pressure) along with mindfulness, on the relationship between COVID-19-related distress and body satisfaction. Model adjustments involved adding three paths, resulting in two additional significant indirect effects, and suppressing one path. Conclusions Findings suggest that mindfulness, media use and the internalization of social media pressure are potential key processes explaining body dissatisfaction and eating disorders among adolescents who experienced higher levels of COVID-related distress.

Food addiction (FA) and binge eating disorder (BED) co-occur and share compulsive eating symptoms. When using an FA measure, it is important to evaluate its performance in a population presenting compulsive eating. The study aims to validate the Addiction-like Eating Behavior Scale (AEBS) among a clinical sample characterized by compulsive eating and overweight/obesity and to evaluate its incremental validity over the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS). Patients seeking help for compulsive eating (n = 220), between January 2020 and July 2023, completed online questionnaires, including FA, compulsive eating, and BMI evaluations. The factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent, divergent, and incremental validity were tested. The sample had a mean age of 44.4 years old (SD = 12.7) and a mean BMI of 38.2 (SD = 8.0). The two-factor structure provided a good fit for the data, with factor loadings from 0.55 to 0.82 (except for item 15) and the internal consistency was high (ω = 0.84–0.89). The AEBS was positively correlated with the YFAS (r = 0.66), binge eating (r = 0.67), grazing (r = 0.47), craving (r = 0.74), and BMI (r = 0.26), and negatively correlated with dietary restraint (r = −0.37), supporting good convergent and divergent validity. For each measure of compulsive eating, linear regression showed that the AEBS “appetite drive” subscale had a unique contribution over the YFAS. This study provided evidence that the AEBS is a valid measure among a clinical sample of patients with compulsive eating and overweight/obesity. However, questions remain as to whether the AEBS is a measure of FA or compulsive eating.

Food addiction (FA) is associated with greater severity on many eating-related correlates when comorbid with binge eating disorder (BED) but no study has established this relation across the whole spectrum of binge eating, i.e., from no BED to subthreshold BED to BED diagnosis. This study aims to examine the effect of the presence of FA on the severity of eating behaviors and psychological correlates in patients without BED, subthreshold BED or BED diagnosis. Participants (n = 223) were recruited at a university center specialized in obesity and eating disorder treatment and completed a semi-structured diagnostic interview and questionnaires measuring eating behaviors, emotional regulation, impulsivity, childhood interpersonal trauma, and personality traits. They were categorized by the presence of an eating disorder (no BED, subthreshold BED, or BED) and the presence of FA. Group comparisons showed that, in patients with BED, those with FA demonstrated higher disinhibition (t(79) = −2.19, p = 0.032) and more maladaptive emotional regulation strategies (t(43) = −2.37, p = 0.022) than participants without FA. In patients with subthreshold BED, those with FA demonstrated higher susceptibility to hunger (t(68) = −2.55, p = 0.013) and less cooperativeness (t(68) = 2.60, p = 0.012). In patients without BED, those with FA demonstrated higher disinhibition (t(70) = −3.15, p = 0.002), more maladaptive emotional regulation strategies (t(53) = −2.54, p = 0.014), more interpersonal trauma (t(69) = −2.41, p = 0.019), and less self-directedness (t(70) = 2.14, p = 0.036). We argue that the assessment of FA provides relevant information to complement eating disorder diagnoses. FA identifies a subgroup of patients showing higher severity on many eating-related correlates along the binge eating spectrum. It also allows targeting of patients without a formal eating disorder diagnosis who would still benefit from professional help.

The aims of this study were to compare, between pregnant individuals with and without bariatric surgery: (1) eating behaviors, (2) intuitive eating components and, (3) attitudes towards weight gain. This retrospective study included data collected in healthy pregnant individuals with and without previous bariatric surgery who were recruited at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Québec-Université Laval. Pregnant individuals who underwent bariatric surgery (biliopancreatic bypass with duodenal switch [n = 14] or sleeve gastrectomy [n = 5]) were individually matched, for age (±0.4 years) and body mass index (BMI) (±0.3 kg/m2), with pregnant individuals who have not received bariatric surgery. In the second trimester, participants completed the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) and the Intuitive Eating Scale 2 (IES-2). In the third trimester, participants completed the French version of the Pregnancy Weight Gain Attitude Scale assessing attitudes towards weight gain. Pregnant individuals who have had bariatric surgery had a higher score for flexible restraint and a lower score for situational susceptibility to disinhibition compared to individuals who have not had undergone bariatric surgery (2.89 ± 1.15 vs. 1.95 ± 1.31; p = 0.04 and 1.11 ± 1.29 vs. 2.79 ± 1.44, respectively; p < 0.001). Regarding intuitive eating, pregnant individuals who experienced bariatric surgery had a higher score for reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues and a lower one for unconditional permission to eat compared with those who had not experienced bariatric surgery (3.99 ± 0.81 vs. 3.30 ± 1.03; p = 0.02 and 3.28 ± 0.54 vs. 3.61 ± 0.68, respectively; p = 0.03). No difference in attitudes towards weight gain was observed between groups. Overall, pregnant individuals who had undergone bariatric surgery had different eating behaviors and intuitive eating components compared to pregnant individuals without bariatric surgery. These results need to be confirmed in further studies with larger sample sizes.