Which sports are more at risk of physical exercise addiction: A systematic review

Laura Di Lodovico, Ségolène Poulnais, Philip Gorwood
Addictive Behaviors. 2019-06-01; 93: 257-262
DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.12.030

PubMed

Lire sur PubMed

Di Lodovico L(1), Poulnais S(2), Gorwood P(3).

Author information:
(1)Clinique des Maladies Mentales et de l’Encéphale (CMME), Hôpital Sainte-Anne,
1 Rue Cabanis, 75014 Paris, France; INSERM U894, Centre de Psychiatrie et
Neurosciences (CPN), Université Paris Descartes, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité,
Paris, France. Electronic address: .
(2)Secteur 3, Hôpital Sainte-Anne, 1 Rue Cabanis, 75014 Paris, France.
(3)Clinique des Maladies Mentales et de l’Encéphale (CMME), Hôpital Sainte-Anne,
1 Rue Cabanis, 75014 Paris, France; INSERM U894, Centre de Psychiatrie et
Neurosciences (CPN), Université Paris Descartes, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité,
Paris, France. Electronic address: .

INTRODUCTION: Excessive physical exercise may evolve into physical exercise
addiction, a recently identified entity with many yet unclear aspects, such as
global prevalence and variability according to different types of physical
exercise.
METHODS: We systematically reviewed the current literature up to June 2018 to
collect all studies screening exercise addiction with two of the most frequently
used screening scales: the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) and the Exercise
Dependence Scale (EDS).
RESULTS: We detected forty-eight studies (20 using the EAI, 26 the EDS, and 2
both scales) reporting variable point prevalence of exercise addiction risk,
depending on the target population and the investigated sport. The EAI
identifies a higher proportion of people at risk for physical exercise addiction
among endurance athletes (14,2%) followed by ball games (10,4%), fitness centre
attendees (8,2%) and power disciplines (6,4%), while a frequency of 3,0% was
reported in the general population. Studies using the EDS found discrepant
results.
DISCUSSION: This systematic review suggests that sport disciplines are
associated with different vulnerability for physical exercise addiction. Besides
the different addictive potential of each sport, the heterogeneity of results
may be also due to socio-demographic and cultural characteristics of the target
populations. The EAI and the EDS identify different proportions of individuals
at risk for exercise addiction both in general population and in specific sport
categories. As the EAI screens a higher proportion of subjects at risk,
especially in endurance disciplines, it could be more appropriate for early
detection of at-risk subjects and/or disciplines.
CONCLUSION: Tailored prevention strategies for each discipline could help better
preserving benefits of sports. More precision in research methods and the use of
the most appropriate scale are required to allow a better comparability of
prevalence among physical exercise disciplines and in general population.