Search

Objective: To formulate diagnostic criteria for exercise dependence.Method: Fifty six adult female exercisers were interviewed about their exercise behaviour and attitudes. The eating disorders examination, a semistructured clinical interview, was used to diagnose eating disorders. Interviews were taped, transcribed verbatim, and analysed from a social constructionist perspective using QSR NUD*IST. Participants also completed the exercise dependence questionnaire.Results: Two diagnostic criteria emerged from analysis of the interview data: impaired functioning and withdrawal. Impaired functioning was manifest in four areas: psychological, social and occupational, physical, and behavioural. Impairment in at least two areas was considered necessary for diagnosis. Withdrawal was evident as either an adverse reaction to the interruption of exercise or unsuccessful attempts at exercise control. Either sufficed for diagnosis. The absence or presence of an eating disorder was used to distinguish between primary and secondary exercise dependence. Ten women met these criteria for exercise dependence. All 10 also exhibited eating disorders and, accordingly, should be regarded as showing secondary, rather than primary, exercise dependence. Exercise dependent women had significantly higher scores on the exercise dependence questionnaire than non-dependent women.Conclusion: These new diagnostic criteria should now be adopted and explored further, particularly among men and individuals with possible primary exercise dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To formulate diagnostic criteria for exercise dependence. METHOD: Fifty six adult female exercisers were interviewed about their exercise behaviour and attitudes. The eating disorders examination, a semistructured clinical interview, was used to diagnose eating disorders. Interviews were taped, transcribed verbatim, and analysed from a social constructionist perspective using QSR NUD*IST. Participants also completed the exercise dependence questionnaire. RESULTS: Two diagnostic criteria emerged from analysis of the interview data: impaired functioning and withdrawal. Impaired functioning was manifest in four areas: psychological, social and occupational, physical, and behavioural. Impairment in at least two areas was considered necessary for diagnosis. Withdrawal was evident as either an adverse reaction to the interruption of exercise or unsuccessful attempts at exercise control. Either sufficed for diagnosis. The absence or presence of an eating disorder was used to distinguish between primary and secondary exercise dependence. Ten women met these criteria for exercise dependence. All 10 also exhibited eating disorders and, accordingly, should be regarded as showing secondary, rather than primary, exercise dependence. Exercise dependent women had significantly higher scores on the exercise dependence questionnaire than non-dependent women. CONCLUSION: These new diagnostic criteria should now be adopted and explored further, particularly among men and individuals with possible primary exercise dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To formulate diagnostic criteria for exercise dependence. METHOD: Fifty six adult female exercisers were interviewed about their exercise behaviour and attitudes. The eating disorders examination, a semistructured clinical interview, was used to diagnose eating disorders. Interviews were taped, transcribed verbatim, and analysed from a social constructionist perspective using QSR NUD*IST. Participants also completed the exercise dependence questionnaire. RESULTS: Two diagnostic criteria emerged from analysis of the interview data: impaired functioning and withdrawal. Impaired functioning was manifest in four areas: psychological, social and occupational, physical, and behavioural. Impairment in at least two areas was considered necessary for diagnosis. Withdrawal was evident as either an adverse reaction to the interruption of exercise or unsuccessful attempts at exercise control. Either sufficed for diagnosis. The absence or presence of an eating disorder was used to distinguish between primary and secondary exercise dependence. Ten women met these criteria for exercise dependence. All 10 also exhibited eating disorders and, accordingly, should be regarded as showing secondary, rather than primary, exercise dependence. Exercise dependent women had significantly higher scores on the exercise dependence questionnaire than non-dependent women. CONCLUSION: These new diagnostic criteria should now be adopted and explored further, particularly among men and individuals with possible primary exercise dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore, using qualitative methods, the concept of exercise dependence. Semistructured interviews were undertaken with subjects screened for exercise dependence and eating disorders.Methods: Female exercisers, four in each case, were allocated a priori to four groups: primary exercise dependent; secondary exercise dependent, where there was a coincidence of exercise dependence and an eating disorder; eating disordered; control, where there was no evidence of either exercise dependence or eating disorder. They were asked about their exercise and eating attitudes and behaviour, as well as about any history of psychological distress. Their narratives were taped, transcribed, and analysed from a social constructionist perspective using QSR NUD*IST.Results: Participants classified as primary exercise dependent either showed no evidence of exercise dependent attitudes and behaviour or, if they exhibited features of exercise dependence, displayed symptoms of an eating disorder. Only the latter reported a history of psychological distress, similar to that exhibited by women classified as secondary exercise dependent or eating disordered. For secondary exercise dependent and eating disordered women, as well as for controls, the narratives largely confirmed the a priori classification.Conclusions: Where exercise dependence was manifest, it was always in the context of an eating disorder, and it was this comorbidity, in addition to eating disorders per se, that was associated with psychological distress. As such, these qualitative data support the concept of secondary, but not primary, exercise dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study was concerned with the concept of exercise dependence. Levels of psychological morbidity, personality profiles, and exercise beliefs were compared among subjects screened for exercise dependence and eating disorders.Method: Adult female exercisers were allocated on the basis of questionnaire screening to one of the following groups: primary exercise dependence (n = 43); secondary exercise dependence, where there was the coincidence of exercise dependence and an eating disorder (n = 27); eating disorder (n =14); control, where there was no evidence of either exercise dependence or eating disorder (n = 110). Questionnaire assessment was undertaken of psychological morbidity, self esteem, weight and body shape dissatisfaction, personality, and exercise beliefs.Results: Aside from a higher incidence of reported menstrual abnormalities, the primary exercise dependence group was largely indistinguishable from the controls. In stark contrast, the secondary exercise dependence group reported higher levels of psychological morbidity, neuroticism, dispositional addictiveness, and impulsiveness, lower self esteem, greater concern with body shape and weight, as well as with the social, psychological, and aesthetic costs of not exercising than the controls, but differed little from the eating disorder group.Conclusions: In the absence of an eating disorder, women identified as being exercise dependent do not exhibit the sorts of personality characteristics and levels of psychological distress that warrant the construction of primary exercise dependence as a widespread pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty women took part in a study to determine the effects of high-intensity training and the menstrual cycle on mood states. Half of the sample were competitive distance runners following a training load of between 50 km and 130 km running per week. Seven athletes were amenorrhoeic and 13 either eumenorrhoeic or oligomenorrhoeic. The remaining 20 subjects were inactive women who menstruated regularly. The mean age of all 40 subjects was 29 years. Each subject completed two identical Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaires. The 33 menstruating subjects completed both a premenstrual and a midcycle form and the amenorrhoeic athletes completed the questionnaires at a 3-week interval, which acted as a control for the potential effects of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) among the menstruating females. Results showed highly significant differences in mood profiles among amenorrhoeic athletes, non-amenorrhoeic athletes and inactive women. The greatest difference was between premenstrual and midcycle measures for the inactive group. PMS appears to cause marked negative mood swings among menstruating women which the POMS inventory is sensitive in detecting. While the lower-intensity-training runners appeared to benefit psychologically from a training distance of approximately 50 km week-1, high-intensity training had an adverse effect on mood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the problems of the retired athletes. It is evident that anyone required to perform at a high level in sport or other physically demanding occupation has a limited number of years before demands made on the body begin to take their toll, sometimes accompanied by difficulties of a psychological nature. Although there may be a good deal of informal support from family, friends, and perhaps even other athletes who have retired, in some sports there remain few initiatives devised specifically for those approaching the end of an athletic career. Some athletes make a seamless transition, whereas others struggle to adapt and are perhaps too proud to ask for help. There are probably four principal reasons for an athlete leaving sport: personal choice, age, injury, and deselection. Only the first of these, when the individual has planned for the day when it is time to change direction, is normally acceptable to the athlete. Chronic injuries, and occasionally one that is sufficiently severe to prevent further participation, are common, and, with age, both intensity of treatment and recovery time tend to increase to the extent that more time may be spent in rehabilitation than participation.