The Impact of Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical and Mental Health: The Lived Experience of Adolescents with Obesity and Their Caregivers

Giada Pietrabissa, Clarissa Volpi, Michela Bottacchi, Vanessa Bertuzzi, Anna Guerrini Usubini, Henriette Löffler-Stastka, Tamara Prevendar, Giada Rapelli, Roberto Cattivelli, Gianluca Castelnuovo, Enrico Molinari and Alessandro Sartorio
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Giada Pietrabissa: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Clarissa Volpi: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Michela Bottacchi: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Vanessa Bertuzzi: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, 20123 Milan, Italy
Anna Guerrini Usubini: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Henriette Löffler-Stastka: Department of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Tamara Prevendar: Psychology Study Programme, Sigmund Freud University Vienna—Ljubljana Branch, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Giada Rapelli: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Roberto Cattivelli: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Gianluca Castelnuovo: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Enrico Molinari: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Psychology Research Laboratory, 20145, Milan, Italy
Alessandro Sartorio: Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS, Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-Endocrinological Research, 28824 Piancavallo (VB), Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Adolescence is a complex developmental phase, made more complex by obesity and the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature related to the impact of social isolation on obesity self-management in adolescents is scant and inconsistent. This paper describes the phenomenon from the perspectives of a sample of adolescents with obesity enrolled in an inpatients’ multidisciplinary rehabilitation program for weight-loss and their caregivers, and its impact on different life domains. Individual semi-structured ad hoc interviews were conducted with 10 adolescent-caregiver dyads, and narratives were qualitatively investigated using an interpretative phenomenology approach to data. Twenty participants took part in the study. The major themes that emerged from this study fall into five basic categories: (1) COVID-19 as an opportunity to reconsider what makes a good life; (2) Persistence in life; (3) Empowering relationship; (4) Daily routine in quarantine; (5) Lives on hold. Understandings drawn from this study may assist health care professionals in providing holistic support, and guidance to adolescents with weight-related issues and their caregivers who experience social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: obesity; adolescent; caregiver; lived experience; coronavirus disease; social isolation; self-management; interpretive phenomenology; content analysis; clinical psychology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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