Practicing psychologists' understanding of the athletic body ideal internalisation: Implications for classification and treatment
This study explored how practicing psychologists make sense of the athletic body ideal when internalised by their clients. Utilising a grounded theory approach, we interviewed a purposive sample of nine psychologists to explore their understanding of the athletic body ideal, with a specific focus on diagnostic classification and treatment. Following grounded theory analysis, results indicated the psychologists tended to associate the athletic body ideal pursuit with positive psychological and physical benefits when it encompasses balance and flexibility. They also perceived healthy or protective factors inherent in the pursuit of the athletic body ideal. However, the psychologists perceived that when the pursuit is obsessive compulsive and rigid, functioning will be compromised. Moreover, the psychologists associated eating disorders (such as restrictive eating) and compulsive exercise with pathological athletic body ideal pursuits. These findings suggest complexity in athletic body ideal presentation across the languishing and flourishing continuum.