OBJECTIVE: College students tend to have lower body image than other groups, in part because of comparisons they make with peers. The closing of college campuses due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the ability to compare
thus, we investigate how the transition to and from virtual-learning influenced body image. PARTICIPANTS: Third- and fourth-year undergraduates ( METHOD: In Fall 2021, undergraduates retrospectively indicated their frequency of body talk, body surveillance, and restrained eating behaviors before the pandemic, during virtual-schooling, and upon returning to campus. RESULTS: Repeated-measures ANOVAs showed that virtual-schooling was associated with less body surveillance and fewer restrained eating behaviors than pre-COVID
and for students who lived at home (versus with friends), pre-COVID was associated with more body talk behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into how virtual-schooling may mitigate some of the risk factors for body image disturbances.