Eating disorders and weight control behaviors change over a collegiate sport season.

OBJECTIVES: Determine whether the prevalence of eating disorder classifications (i.e., clinical eating disorder, subclinical eating disorder, and asymptomatic) and pathogenic weight control behaviors (e.g., bingeing, vomiting) change over a five-month sport season. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. METHODS: Female collegiate gymnasts and swimmers (N=325) completed the Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnoses as well as six items from the Bulimia Test-Revised at Time 1 (two weeks into the beginning of their athletic season) and Time 2 (final two weeks of the athletic season); data collections were separated by five months. RESULTS: Over the course of the season, 90% of the athletes (18 out of 20) retained a clinical eating disorder diagnosis or moved to the subclinical classification. Of the 83 subclinical athletes at Time 1, 37.3% persisted with that classification and 10.8% developed a clinical eating disorder; the remainder became asymptomatic/healthy eaters by Time 2. The majority of Time 1 asymptomatic athletes (92.3%) remained so at Time 2. Exercise and dieting/fasting were the most frequent forms of weight control behaviors, though each was used less frequently at Time 2 (exercise=35.4%; dieting=9.2%) than at Time 1 (exercise=42.5%; dieting=12.3%). CONCLUSIONS: Eating disorder classifications, particularly clinical and subclinical, remain stable across a competitive season, supporting the need for early detection and purposeful intervention. Athletes engage in weight control behaviors that may be reinforced in the sport environment (e.g., supplemental exercise), making identification more challenging for sports medicine professionals.

The frequency of weigh-ins, weight intentionality and management, and eating among female collegiate athletes.

Female athletes often experience sport-environment pressures about weight, eating, and body composition from within the sport environment. One pressure that may be particularly debilitating is being weighed as a requirement of sport participation. Using 414 female collegiate athletes from weight-sensitive sports, we examined the frequency of weigh-ins, weight intentionality, weight-management practices, and eating and nutritional behaviors. Of the 41% of athletes who were weighed, most were done by athletic trainers in private (82%) and prepared by using at least one weight management strategy (75%). In the entire sample, 22.8% ate <1500cal per day and 55% wanted to lose weight (approximately 5lb). The majority (78%) received their nutritional advice from qualified sources (e.g., dietitian). Although being weighed was not required for the majority of the athletes, and when mandated was done in a relatively healthy manner, sizable numbers of the athletes wanted to lose weight, ate less than needed for their sport, and received guidance on how to eat healthfully from unqualified sources. Additional research is needed with other sports to establish baseline data for these behaviors.

To Weigh or Not to Weigh? Relation to Disordered Eating Attitudes and Behaviors Among Female Collegiate Athletes.

Female athletes have been identified as a subpopulation at heightened risk for disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, particularly due to weight pressures in their environment. Using a sample of 414 NCAA Division-I female collegiate athletes, we examined the relations of required team weigh-ins or self-weighing on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Through a series of multivariate analyses, we determined that team weighs were unrelated significantly to all outcome measures. Self-weighing, however, differentiated the athletes' scores on internalization, body satisfaction, dietary restraint, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology; athletes who self-weighed three or more times a week (sometimes 1-2 times per week) reported significantly higher levels of pathology across all measures. Mandatory team-conducted weigh-ins appear to not be a salient pressure for female gymnasts and swimmer/divers, although the frequency of their self-weighing may represent a level of self-monitoring that is associated with greater endorsement of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors.

Weight pressures in sport: examining the factor structure and incremental validity of the weight pressures in sport - females.

Due to pressures within the sport environment, such as from coaches, teammates, uniforms and judges, female athletes may develop unhealthy eating practices to lose weight or change their body size/shape to become more competitive and meet societal and sport-related physique ideals. However, up until the development of the Weight Pressures in Sport for Females (WPS-F; Reel, SooHoo, Petrie, Greenleaf, & Carter, 2010) there was no way to quantify sport-specific weight pressures with female athletes. In this study, the psychometric properties of the scale were further examined using a sample of 414 female collegiate athletes. Sample 1 [n=207; M=19.27 years; SD=1.16] and Sample 2 [n=207; M=19.19 years; SD=1.66] participants were of a similar age and were used for exploratory and confirmatory analyses respectively. A two factor structure was confirmed and it was established that the scale was unique from general sociocultural pressures that all women experience, predicting female athletes' internalization, body dissatisfaction, dietary intent, and bulimic symptomatology. Specifically, the following factors, Coach and Sport Pressures about Weight (Factor 1) and Pressures Regarding Appearance and Performance (Factor 2), were found to have strong internal consistency and the emerging reliable and valid WPS-F has practical implications for screening and identifying weight-related sport pressures within female athletes. WPS-F can also serve to educate sport professionals about environmental pressures so that disordered eating and body image disturbances can be prevented.

Psychosocial correlates of bulimic symptoms among NCAA division-I female collegiate gymnasts and swimmers/divers.

In this study, we tested Petrie and Greenleaf's (2007) model of bulimic symptoms in two independent samples of female collegiate swimmers/divers and gymnasts. Structural equation modeling revealed support for the model, although it also suggested additional pathways. Specifically, general societal pressures regarding weight and body were related to the internalization of those ideals and, subsequently, to increases in body dissatisfaction. Pressures from the sport environment regarding weight and appearance were associated with more body dissatisfaction and more restrictive eating. Body dissatisfaction was related to more feelings of sadness, anger, and fear among the athletes. Negative affect, body dissatisfaction, and dietary restraint were related directly to bulimic symptoms, accounting for 55-58% of its variance. These results suggest that general sociocultural pressures are influential, but weight and appearance pressures in the sport environment may be even more pervasive and negative for female athletes.