exercise addiction

Question 1

Primary vs secondary exercise addiction definitions

Answer 1

PRIMARY- No associated weight or shape concerns
-Frequency and volume of exercise is central (tolerance)
Quantitative assessment of exercise (HOW MUCH)
-loss of control over exercise activity

SECONDARY- Exercise difficulties only exist in the context of an eating problem
-Weight and shape concerns a key motive for exercise
-Exercise difficulties tackled alongside eating concerns -Obsessive compulsive framework
-Qualitative assessment of exercise

Question 2

primary exercise

Answer 2

Primary Exercise Addiction:
Definition: This is when the addiction to exercise is the main issue itself, not linked to any other psychological condition.

Motivation: The person is driven by the pleasure or high from exercising, often feeling euphoric, accomplished, or in control. Over time, they may feel compelled to exercise more frequently or intensely to achieve the same feeling.

Symptoms:
Compulsive need to exercise even when injured or sick.
Anxiety, guilt, or irritability when unable to exercise.
Prioritizing exercise over social, work, or family commitments.
Example: Someone who started running for health reasons but gradually becomes obsessed with it to the point where they can’t skip a day, even if it interferes with their daily life.

Question 3

secondary exercise

Answer 3

Secondary Exercise Addiction:
Definition: Here, excessive exercise is a symptom of another underlying psychological disorder, most commonly eating disorders like anorexia nervosa or bulimia.

Motivation: The focus is typically on weight loss, body image control, or burning calories rather than the joy of exercise itself.

Symptoms:
Exercise is used primarily to control weight or shape, often paired with restrictive eating.
Feelings of guilt or fear about gaining weight if exercise is skipped. More likely to occur alongside disordered eating behaviors.

Example: A person with anorexia who engages in excessive exercise to compensate for caloric intake or maintain extremely low body weight.

Question 4

exercise dependence criteria (primary)

Answer 4

Hausenblas & Symons Downs (2002)
1. Tolerance - need for increasing amounts of exercise to achieve desired effects
2. Withdrawal symptoms
3. Intention effects – exercising for longer or doing more than was initially intended
4. Lack of control – desire to cut down, or difficulty doing so
5. Time
6. Reduction in other activities
7. Continuance – exercising despite knowing that it exacerbates/causes a physical or psychological
issue.

exercise dependent scale then revised- 21 item questionaire -Symons Downs, Hausenblas & Nigg, 2004

Question 5

primary exercise addiction prevelance

Answer 5

Prevalence
* Estimating prevalence without specific, agreed classification criteria is tricky.
* Differences in definitions, measures and thresholds for cut off leads to considerable
variability within the field.
* General population prevalence – varies from 0.5% to ~ 8%
* Elevated in athletic populations – 5-14% (Trott et al., 2020; Di Lodovico et al., 2019).
* Differences by sport
* Are we measuring exercise addiction, or just high(er) levels of normative exercise
behaviour?
* Other ‘at risk’ groups – e.g., students (5.5%, Trott et al., 2020).
* Failure to measure/assess for secondary EA in prevalence studies.

Question 6

assessment tools for exercise addiction (primary)

Answer 6

Exercise addiction inventory (Griffiths, Szabo & Terry, 2005).

Correlations between exercise frequency and EAI scores

 Concurrent validity with other, similar measures (e.g., Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire; Pasman & Thompson,
1988; Exercise Dependence Scale; Hausenblas & Symons Downs, 2001)- GOOD

Question 7

comparison of measures

Answer 7

Granziol et al., (2021)
* Cross-sectional online survey of n=1011 athletes; completed Exercise Dependence Scale Revised (EDSR) and the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI)
* Confirmatory factor analyses of both measures
* Good fit indices across both measures, for both men and women
* Measurement invariance for competition level for the EDSR only
* Individuals meeting the threshold for EA on the EDSR were less likely to report that they
would stop exercising on prescription by a medical professional.