Running to win or to be thin? An evaluation of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms among adult runners.
The current study evaluated associations between sport performance related body dissatisfaction (BD) general appearance related BD, and their relation to EAT 26 scores among a sample of adult runners who participated in middle and long distance races in the northeastern United States (N=400, 46.5% male) Women reported elevated BD and eating disorder symptoms, as compared to men. Ridge regression was used to analyze correlations between appearance and performance related BD with EAT 26 scores. Results demonstrated that appearance and performance related BD positively correlated with EAT 26 scores in women (bs=0.18 and 0.13, respectively) Race length was a significant covariate for women, such that those who ran middle distance race events were more likely to report higher EAT 26 scores (b= 3.12) These associations were not demonstrated in men. Results suggest that it is beneficial to address sport specific body image concerns, in addition to more general appearance related body image concerns in female runners.
Body image