Abstract
Purpose
To provide 5-year time trends in prevalence and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates of compulsive exercise among a national sample of college men and women.
Methods
We analyzed 4 academic survey years (2016–2020; N = 8251) of the national (USA) Healthy Minds Study. Compulsive exercise was measured by self-report of any occurrence of “compulsive” exercise in the past 4 weeks. Unadjusted prevalence of compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks was estimated across the 4 survey years by sex. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted among the pooled sample and stratified by sex to estimate the associations between compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates.
Results
Among the pooled sample, 11% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.60–12.42%) of men and 17% (95% CI 15.86–18.24%) of women reported compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks. Prevalence across the 4 survey years remained stable among men and women. Higher body mass index was associated with greater odds of any compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks among men, while any sports participation was associated with greater odds of any compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks among women. Compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks was associated with greater odds of all mental health symptoms and illicit drug use among men and women, and higher odds of alcohol use among women.
Conclusion
Compulsive exercise is relatively common among college men and women and is associated with substance use behaviors and poor mental health symptoms.
Level of Evidence
V, cross-sectional descriptive study
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Availability of data and material
The Healthy Minds Study is available to researchers. Please visit http://healthymindsnetwork.org for more information.
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We would like to thank Nicole Lisi for providing research assistance and Samuel Benabou for providing editorial assistance.
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KTG and JMN conceptualized the study aims and statistical analysis plan. KTG conducted the statistical analysis and wrote a first draft of the manuscript. All authors provided edits and comments on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Healthy Minds Study was approved by the Health Sciences and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board at the University of Michigan and all participating institutions. This study is exempt from research ethics approval given the data are publicly available and unidentifiable.
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Ganson, K.T., Mitchison, D., Rodgers, R.F. et al. Compulsive exercise among college students: 5-year time trends in prevalence and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates. Eat Weight Disord 27, 717–728 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-021-01210-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-021-01210-8