Exercise addiction measured at a naturalistic marathon-event – associations of the EAI with the general level of functioning, affect and performance parameters

ABSTRACT

Endurance sports carry a high risk of exercise addiction (EA) compared to other physical activities. Previous research has established a link between EA and depressive symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate a sample of amateur marathoners concerning risk of EA and investigate the relationship to fitness measures, affect and the general level of functioning. We included 72 (19.4% female) marathon runners. The Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), the global assessment of functioning (GAF), the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), the Beck-Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were assessed alongside demographic measures, maximum oxygen uptake (cardio pulmonary exercise test), BMI and training volume. In this sample five individuals at-risk could be identified (6.94%). No significant associations were found regarding demographics and EA. Higher values of EA were associated with a reduced level of general functioning (r = −.35; p = .003), higher values of depressive symptoms (r = .36; p = .003) and negative affect (r  = .27; p = .022) while no increased training volume or higher performance were observed. A regression analysis identified the IPAQ as predictor for risk of EA (PANAS-NA marginally significant). Marathon running at the amateur level showed a lower risk of developing an exercise addiction than expected. Important associations of EA could be identified in our study (IPAQ, PANAS-NA, GAF, BDI).

Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register identifier: DRKS00012496.

KEYWORDS:

• Exercise addiction
• marathon
• fitness
• $\dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2\max$
• general level of functioning
• negative affect

Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the ReCaP study group and to the marathon runners who volunteered to participate in our study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.