Exploring the contribution of exercise dependence to eating disorder symptoms

Abstract

Objective: Exercise dependence is a set of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that constitute a reliance on exercise and is related to eating disorder (ED) symptoms. There are seven components of exercise dependence: tolerance, withdrawal, continuance, lack of control, reduction in other activities, time, and intention effects. Exercising in response to negative affect (NA) is a key feature of dysfunctional exercise in the EDs. However, it is unknown which specific components of exercise dependence relate to ED symptoms, above and beyond NA. Method: The current study (N = 168 individuals with EDs) investigated which components of exercise dependence relate to ED symptoms both cross-sectionally and prospectively. Results: In cross-sectional data, we found that withdrawal, tolerance, and time were associated with ED symptoms, above and beyond NA. Prospectively over 1 month, when adjusting for baseline ED symptoms and NA, we found that lack of control, withdrawal, and time positively predicted ED symptoms. Discussion: These findings inform future research on how exercise dependence relates to ED symptoms, showing that withdrawal and time are uniquely associated with ED symptoms both cross-sectionally and over time.