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. 2020 Jan;53(1):123-127.
doi: 10.1002/eat.23156. Epub 2019 Aug 19.

Exploring the contribution of exercise dependence to eating disorder symptoms

Leigh C Brosof  1 , Brenna M Williams  1 , Cheri A Levinson  1
Affiliations

Exploring the contribution of exercise dependence to eating disorder symptoms

Leigh C Brosof et al. Int J Eat Disord. 2020 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: Exercise dependence is a set of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that constitute a reliance on exercise and is related to eating disorder (ED) symptoms. There are seven components of exercise dependence: tolerance, withdrawal, continuance, lack of control, reduction in other activities, time, and intention effects. Exercising in response to negative affect (NA) is a key feature of dysfunctional exercise in the EDs. However, it is unknown which specific components of exercise dependence relate to ED symptoms, above and beyond NA.

Method: The current study (N = 168 individuals with EDs) investigated which components of exercise dependence relate to ED symptoms both cross-sectionally and prospectively.

Results: In cross-sectional data, we found that withdrawal, tolerance, and time were associated with ED symptoms, above and beyond NA. Prospectively over 1 month, when adjusting for baseline ED symptoms and NA, we found that lack of control, withdrawal, and time positively predicted ED symptoms.

Discussion: These findings inform future research on how exercise dependence relates to ED symptoms, showing that withdrawal and time are uniquely associated with ED symptoms both cross-sectionally and over time.

Keywords: EDs; dysfunctional exercise; exercise dependence; negative affect.

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