Exercise Dependence – The Role of Perfectionism and Disordered Eating

Abstract

Despite the physical and psychological benefits of exercise,
recent evidence has been gathered on the downsides of this
healthy habit in the form of exercise dependence. Exercise
dependence is an uncontrolled urge for exercising and
satisfying that urge becomes the ultimate goal in everyday life
and, consequently leads to the loss of beneficial effects of
exercise. This study contains validation of the Exercise
Dependence Scale (Hausenblas & Symon Downs, 2002b) used
for the first time on a Croatian sample for measuring exercise
dependence symptoms. In an online conducted research 281
women participated, mean age of 22 years (SD = 2.70). The
aim of this study was to examine the contribution of
perfectionism and disordered eating in explaining exercise
dependence symptoms. The conducted analyses identified
personal standards, doubt about actions, and dieting as
significant individual predictors for exercise dependence. More
precisely, participants with higher personal standards, more
doubts about their actions, and those who often engage in
dieting tend to experience more exercise dependence
symptoms. Perfectionism dimensions and disordered eating
aspects explained 23% of the exercise dependence variance.