Longitudinal Examination of Exercise Addiction

There are few cases of exercise addiction reported in the literature. However, this subject receives substantial attention in the field of sports and exercise psychology. Recent research suggests that the risk for exercise addiction (REA) is largely predicted by passion, which is associated with the motivation of the individual. The objective of this 12-week longitudinal study was to examine the temporal changes in these variables in women and men (N=149) who started a new sport activity. Latent growth modeling showed that REA and passion were high at baseline and showed a slight increase over the 12 weeks. Motivational factors predicted passion, whereas REA was predicted by gender, team sport participation, exercise intensity, and identified motivation. These findings show that the development of passion and REA over time, both partially mediated by motivation, manifest independent patterns. Consequently, despite the reported relationship between the two, they appear to be independent constructs.