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. 2022 Aug 1:4:903777.
doi: 10.3389/fspor.2022.903777. eCollection 2022.

Understanding exercise addiction, psychiatric characteristics and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among recreational athletes - An online survey study

Björn Gunnarsson  1 , Artin Entezarjou  2   3 , Fernando Fernández-Aranda  4   5   6   7 , Susana Jiménez-Murcia  4   5   6   7 , Göran Kenttä  8   9   10 , Anders Håkansson  11   12
Affiliations

Understanding exercise addiction, psychiatric characteristics and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among recreational athletes - An online survey study

Björn Gunnarsson et al. Front Sports Act Living. .

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this paper was to explore maladaptive behaviors among physically active individuals, including exercise dependence and use of anabolic steroids. Both exercise addiction (EA) and use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) correlate to high amounts of exercise and EA have been linked to eating disorders and other mental health problems.

Methods: An internet survey was spread through fitness-related social media. Inclusion criteria were age ≥ 15 years and exercise frequency ≥ thrice weekly. Exercise addiction inventory identified those at-risk of EA (rEA). Characteristics of rEA were compared to those not at risk. In a separate analysis, AAS users were compared to AAS-naïve individuals.

Results: In total, 3,029 participants completed the questionnaire. Of these, 11% screened positive for being rEA, and 23% for ED. Factors associated with EA included daily exercise, social phobia, eating disorders and OCD. Risk consumption of alcohol was a negative predictor. Thirty seven participants had taken AAS the last year. These were mainly men, bodybuilders/powerlifters and more often used amphetamines and opioids.

Discussion: This exploratory study supports EA being strongly associated with eating disorders. Identified associations between EA and compulsive or anxiety disorders warrant further research to clarify if these associations arise prior to, together with, or secondary to EA.

Keywords: anabolic androgenic steroids; behavioral addiction; exercise dependence; mental health; sports psychology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author AH has overall research funding from the state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, which however was not involved in the present study, which did not received any project-specific funding. Authors FF-A and SJ-M received consultancy honoraria from Novo Nordisk and editorial honoraria as EIC from Wiley (FF-A), which had no role in the study. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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