title: Running to win or to be thin? An evaluation of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms among adult runners.
abstract: The current study evaluated associations between sport-performance-related body dissatisfaction (BD), general-appearance-related BD, and their relation to EAT-26 scores among a sample of adult runners who participated in middle- and long-distance races in the northeastern United States (N=400, 46.5% male). Women reported elevated BD and eating disorder symptoms, as compared to men. Ridge regression was used to analyze correlations between appearance- and performance-related BD with EAT-26 scores. Results demonstrated that appearance- and performance-related BD positively correlated with EAT-26 scores in women (βs=0.18 and 0.13, respectively). Race length was a significant covariate for women, such that those who ran middle-distance race events were more likely to report higher EAT-26 scores (β=-3.12). These associations were not demonstrated in men. Results suggest that it is beneficial to address sport-specific body image concerns, in addition to more general appearance-related body image concerns in female runners.
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Social Sciences 399, Albany, NY 12222, USA. Electronic address: lmanderson@albany.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Social Sciences 399, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
authors.forename: Erin E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Social Sciences 399, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
authors.forename: Sasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gorrell
authors.affiliation: University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Social Sciences 399, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
authors.forename: Drew A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012420:Running / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Athletes; Body image dissatisfaction; Eating disorder