Disordered Eating Attitudes, Anxiety, Self-Esteem and Perfectionism in Young Athletes and Non-Athletes

Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez, Laura C. Sánchez-Sánchez, Rubén Fernández-García, Javier Sánchez-Sánchez and José Manuel García-Montes
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Cristina Petisco-Rodríguez: Research Group Planning and Assessment of Training and Athletic Performance, Faculty of Education, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle Henry Collet, 52-70, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Laura C. Sánchez-Sánchez: Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Science Education and Sport, University of Granada, Calle Santander, N° 1, 52071 Melilla, Spain
Rubén Fernández-García: Department of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Medicine, University of Almeria, Carretera Sacramento, S/N, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain
Javier Sánchez-Sánchez: Research Group Planning and Assessment of Training and Athletic Performance, Faculty of Education, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Calle Henry Collet, 52-70, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
José Manuel García-Montes: Department of Psychology, University of Almeria, Carretera Sacramento, S/N, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: Eating disorders are associated with short and long-term consequences that can affect sports performance. The purposes of this study were to investigate whether female athletes, particularly gymnasts and footballers, exhibit more eating problems compared to female non-athletes, and to identify individual personality characteristics including anxiety, self-esteem, and perfectionism as possible contributors to eating disorder risk. In a sample of 120 participants, 80 adolescent female athletes were compared to a control condition of 40 non-athletes (mean age 17.2 ± 2.82). Participants responded to a questionnaire package to investigate the presence of disordered eating (SCOFF) and psychological variables in relation to disordered eating symptoms or eating disorder status. Subsequently, anthropometric measures were obtained individually by trained staff. There were statistically significant differences between conditions. One of the most important results was the score in SCOFF (Mann–Whitney = 604, p < 0.05; Cohen’s d = 0.52, r = 0.25), being higher in control than in the gymnast condition. These results suggest that non-athlete female adolescents show more disturbed eating behaviours and thoughts than female adolescents from aesthetic sport modalities and, therefore, may have an enhanced risk of developing clinical eating disorders.

Keywords: eating disorders; prevention; psychological factors; athletes; non-athletes; gymnasts; footballers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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