100 Cases of Exercise Addiction: More Evidence for a Widely Researched but Rarely Identified Dysfunction

Exercise addiction is an extensively studied topic in the sport science and psychology literature as reflected by the more than 1000 papers published in the field. However, only about 12 cases were published in the area, which may suggest that there is difficulty in reaching and studying affected in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of mental health and addiction 2021-10, Vol.19 (5), p.1799-1811
Main Authors: Juwono, Ignatius Darma, Szabo, Attila
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Community and Environmental Psychology
Exercise
Health Psychology
Martial arts
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Article
Physical fitness
Psychiatry
Psychology
Public Health
Rehabilitation
Search engines
Search strategies
Triathlon
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Summary:Exercise addiction is an extensively studied topic in the sport science and psychology literature as reflected by the more than 1000 papers published in the field. However, only about 12 cases were published in the area, which may suggest that there is difficulty in reaching and studying affected individuals. Relying on the Components Model of Addiction, we performed an extensive search on non-scholar websites (i.e. popular media websites) and identified 100 cases that met the eligibility criteria. These cases reflect the several physical, psychological and social consequences that may accompany the dysfunction, as well as numerous exercise activities to which individuals may become addicted. The findings also raise the question whether women are more affected than men, or perhaps women are more open than men to disclose their problem, as based on the four to one ratio of the identified cases. The current work supports the large volume of research in the field of exercise addiction, because either the prevalence of the dysfunction is greater than expected, or people are more open to disclose their problem on Internet sites.
ISSN:1557-1874
1557-1882
DOI:10.1007/s11469-020-00264-6