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Eating disordered behaviours in Portuguese athletes: The influence of personal, sport, and psychological variables
Author(s) -
Gomes A. Rui,
Martins Carla,
Silva Luiz
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european eating disorders review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.511
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1099-0968
pISSN - 1072-4133
DOI - 10.1002/erv.1113
Subject(s) - psychology , athletes , anxiety , disordered eating , eating disorders , portuguese , clinical psychology , perception , human physical appearance , eating attitudes test , developmental psychology , psychiatry , physical therapy , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience
Objective This study describes eating disordered behaviours in a sample of Portuguese elite athletes and analyses the impact of personal and sports factors on those eating disordered behaviours. Method Two hundred and ninety athletes (51.7% males) practicing collective (64.8%) and individual sports have been included. The evaluation protocol included the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire ; the Sport Condition Questionnaire ; the Sport Anxiety Scale ; the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire ; the Cognitive Evaluation of Sport–Threat Perceptions and the Self‐Presentation Exercise Questionnaire . Results Females, athletes with a higher body mass index, and those with a desire to weigh less, reported more eating disordered behaviours. No relation with sports variables was found. Finally, a higher prevalence of eating disorders behaviour was predicted by lower satisfaction in terms of body shape and physical appearance, higher anxiety and impression motivation. Conclusion Personal characteristics of athletes, as well as their body satisfaction, anxiety, impression motivation and threat perception and coach comments on their weight, represent dimensions that could raise the risk for eating disorders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association