Compulsive exercise and mental health challenges in fitness instructors; presence and interactions

Abstract

Plain English summary For some people, physical activity may be driven by compulsive thoughts, which can be associated with mental health issues and psychosocial impairment. This makes it important to understand the underpinnings to compulsive exercise (CE). Fitness instructors are considered important facilitators for a healthy and physically active lifestyle, but there is little knowledge on the occurrence of CE among these role models. Previous findings report on a significant frequency of symptoms of eating disorders in fitness instructors, and as such it is reasonable to assume that CE is present. By concurrently obtaining information on symptoms of depression, anxiety and eating disorders, this study was able to explore explanations to the variance in occurrence of CE. Our main findings were a moderately elevated frequency of symptoms of depression and anxiety, and that 9% of 270 male and female fitness instructors demonstrated CE behavior. Participants demonstrating CE had higher levels of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders compared with those without CE. Nevertheless, only symptoms of eating disorders explained the variation in CE severity. Other than increasing our understanding of CE, the main implication from these findings is a need to increase mental health literacy in fitness instructors.

Keywords

• Dysfunctional exercise
• Compulsive exercise
• Disordered eating
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Physical activity