Impact of exercise addiction on quality of life during COVID-19: mediating role of obsessive-compulsive disorder and physiological symptoms

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled people to think about their physical and mental well-being. The current study investigates the relationship between exercise addiction (EA) and quality of life (QOL) through obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and physiological symptoms. Correlation and mediation analyses were adopted to test the proposed models on 318 respondents. Two serial mediation models were examined between EA and QOL through OCD and physiological symptoms. Results revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between EA, OCD, and physiological symptoms with each other and a negative correlation between EA, OCD, and physiological symptoms with QOL. Individuals’ QOL was more affected by obsessive and compulsive traits rather than physiological injuries. This study elaborated on the understanding of EA and QOL specifically in a pandemic scenario.

KEYWORDS:

• Exercise addiction
• obsessive-compulsive behaviour
• physiological symptoms
• quality of life
• COVID-19

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Authors agree to make data and materials supporting the results or analyses presented in their paper available upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

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