The relationship between compulsive exercise, selfesteem, body-image and body-satisfaction

Although there is a large body of literature on the link between compulsive exercise and eating disorders, there is a lack of research that explains this relationship. The aim of this study was to provide new insight on this relationship by testing the relationship between compulsive exercise and the well-known predictors of eating disorders: self-esteem, body-image, and body-satisfaction. It was hypothesized that individuals who scored above average on compulsive exercise measures would be significantly more likely to score below average on the self-esteem, body-satisfaction and body-image scales. To test this hypothesis, self-report measures of compulsive exercise beliefs and behaviors, self-esteem, body-image and body-satisfaction, were completed by 45 male and 120 female participants through an online questionnaire. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed that individuals who scored higher than average on traits that point to behaviors or thoughts that belong to compulsive exercise were significantly more likely to score lower than average on self-esteem, body-satisfaction and body-image. As low self-esteem, body-image and body-satisfaction have been linked to above average levels of eating disorders, it might be that the relationship between compulsive exercise and eating disorders is mediated or moderated by the levels of selfesteem, body-image and body-satisfaction. These analyses were also performed separately for male and female participants. In this case, the male sample did not show any significant differences between groups in the levels of self-esteem, body-image and body-satisfaction. This could be due to the difference in size of the two samples or due to a deeper distinction between men and women. These differences in the results show that the results should be interpreted cautiously, and the need for further research to answer the new questions that have arose through this study.