Exercise addiction in athletes: Comparing two assessment instruments and willingness to stop exercise after medical advice

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exercise addiction in athletes

T2 - Comparing two assessment instruments and willingness to stop exercise after medical advice

AU - Granziol, Umberto

AU - Zorzi, Alessandro

AU - Cardaioli, Francesco

AU - Cipriani, Alberto

AU - D'Ascenzi, Flavio

AU - Firth, Joseph

AU - Stubbs, Brendon

AU - Trott, Mike

AU - Solmi, Marco

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 American Psychological Association Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/2/22

Y1 - 2021/2/22

N2 - Exercise is overwhelmingly beneficial for physical and mental health, but for some people exercise addiction (EA) can develop and negatively impact an individual. This study sought to (a) compare the latent structure of two instruments assessing EA and (b) examine differences in attitudes toward stopping exercise, if required to on medical grounds, among exercise-addicted and non-addicted athletes. In a cross-sectional study, 1,011 athletes competing at different levels completed an anonymous on-line survey. The survey contained Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R), Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), and questions on adherence to medical prescriptions to stop exercise. We tested the latent structure of EDS-R and EAI with multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), across gender and competition level. Finally, we measured the difference of athletes’ attitudes toward stopping exercise, if prescribed by a physician. Both instruments showed good fit indexes, even across gender. CFAs on EAI scores showed some violations of measurement invariance across competition level (ΔCFI = .03; ΔRMSEA = .02). On the contrary, CFAs on EDS-R scores did not show invariance violations across competition level (ΔCFI = <.01; ΔRMSEA = <.01). Finally, athletes who reached thresholds for exercise addiction, by means of EDS-R, were more prone to not follow medical prescriptions to cease exercise, independently of the competition level. These results suggest that athletes’ answers on the EDS-R seem to be less affected by competition level, compared to EAI. Moreover, EDS-R outcomes could be used to identify individuals who may be unlikely to cease exercise for medical reasons, independently of their competition level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Public Significance Statement—The present study suggests that the answers to Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised are not influenced by either the gender or the competition level of an athlete. On the contrary, the answers to Exercise Addiction Inventory can be influenced by athletes’ competition level. Furthermore, Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised appears to be more effective than the Exercise Addiction Inventory in detecting athletes’ attitude toward medical prescription to stop exercise. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

AB - Exercise is overwhelmingly beneficial for physical and mental health, but for some people exercise addiction (EA) can develop and negatively impact an individual. This study sought to (a) compare the latent structure of two instruments assessing EA and (b) examine differences in attitudes toward stopping exercise, if required to on medical grounds, among exercise-addicted and non-addicted athletes. In a cross-sectional study, 1,011 athletes competing at different levels completed an anonymous on-line survey. The survey contained Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R), Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), and questions on adherence to medical prescriptions to stop exercise. We tested the latent structure of EDS-R and EAI with multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), across gender and competition level. Finally, we measured the difference of athletes’ attitudes toward stopping exercise, if prescribed by a physician. Both instruments showed good fit indexes, even across gender. CFAs on EAI scores showed some violations of measurement invariance across competition level (ΔCFI = .03; ΔRMSEA = .02). On the contrary, CFAs on EDS-R scores did not show invariance violations across competition level (ΔCFI = <.01; ΔRMSEA = <.01). Finally, athletes who reached thresholds for exercise addiction, by means of EDS-R, were more prone to not follow medical prescriptions to cease exercise, independently of the competition level. These results suggest that athletes’ answers on the EDS-R seem to be less affected by competition level, compared to EAI. Moreover, EDS-R outcomes could be used to identify individuals who may be unlikely to cease exercise for medical reasons, independently of their competition level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Public Significance Statement—The present study suggests that the answers to Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised are not influenced by either the gender or the competition level of an athlete. On the contrary, the answers to Exercise Addiction Inventory can be influenced by athletes’ competition level. Furthermore, Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised appears to be more effective than the Exercise Addiction Inventory in detecting athletes’ attitude toward medical prescription to stop exercise. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106068877&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1037/pas0000987

DO - 10.1037/pas0000987

M3 - Article

C2 - 33617274

AN - SCOPUS:85106068877

SN - 1040-3590

VL - 33

SP - 326

EP - 337

JO - Psychological Assessment

JF - Psychological Assessment

IS - 4

ER -