Carmen Bewell-Weiss -York University, Doctoral Stipend 2006
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Project Summary
The present study was aimed at determining a model that would predict excessive exercise in individuals with anorexia nervosa. This is very important because exercising excessively while underweight, as can be the case in certain forms of sport participation, has been shown to have dangerous health consequences, and has been linked to negative prognosis and higher psychological distress. At the same time, in other populations, exercising has been shown to have positive health effects (both physical and psychological). Thus, the present study examined the associations, both positive and negative, between exercise and various psychological and behavioural variables.
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Purpose: The aim of the present study was to replicate and amalgamate findings from previous research into a comprehensive model predicting excessive exercise in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN).
Method: Participants were 109 patients admitted to an intensive treatment program for AN. Excessive exercise status was defined as a minimum of one hour of obligatory exercise, six days per week in the month before admission. Body mass index (BMI), food restraint, anxiety, depression, AN subtype, self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, and age were measured at admission to the program.
Results: Thirty-nine percent of participants met criteria for excessive exercise. A logistic regression model was run with excessive exercise status as the dependent variable and the remaining variables entered as independent variables on the same step. The overall model was significant (p = 0.001) and explained 28% of the variance in exercise status. Admission BMI (p = 0.04), food restraint (p = 0.004), depression (p = 0.02), subtype (p = 0.02), and self-esteem (p = 0.02) emerged as significant independent predictors of exercise status.
Conclusions: Excessive exercise status is associated with lower admission BMIs, increased food restraint, higher levels of depressive symptomatology, higher self-esteem, and the restricting subtype of AN. These results are discussed in terms of their potential treatment implications.
Objective
Although excessive exercise is common in individuals with anorexia nervosa, relatively little is
known about the role that exercise plays in the course of the disorder. The purposes of the
present study are two-fold. The first objective is to determine if individuals with anorexia
nervosa who were excessive exercisers before intensive inpatient treatment are less likely to
complete intensive treatment successfully than individuals with anorexia nervosa who did not
engage in excessive exercise before intensive treatment. The second objective is to determine
if excessive exercise behaviour before treatment is positively correlated with eating disorder
symptom severity.
Method
Participants will be patients admitted to an intensive inpatient treatment program at the Toronto
General Hospital. Exercise behaviour in the previous three months and current eating disorder
symptomatology will be measured at admission to the treatment program. Outcome in the
treatment program will be obtained from hospital charts.
Implications
Results of this study may help identify early on patients who are most at risk of premature dropout
from inpatient treatment. This may lead to more effective treatment for those who were
excessive exercisers. Finally, they may suggest that athletes and individuals who exercise in
large amounts should be screened for excessive exercise attitudes and behaviours as well as
eating disorder psychopathology.
SCRI 2007 Presentation Slides
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