Exploring the Relationship Between Mental Well-Being, Exercise Routines, and the Intake of Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Comparison Across Sport Disciplines.

Julius Burkauskas,Cristina De Andrade Monteiro ,Irene P Carvalho,Zsolt Demetrovics,Ornella Corazza,María Ángeles Gómez-Martínez ,Aistė Pranckevičienė ,Ricardo M Santos-Labrador,Dorotea Cicconcelli,Eva María Arroyo-Anlló ,Fernando Barbosa,Pierluigi Simonato,Kei Kobayashi,Sayaka Yoshimura,Valentina Giorgetti,Attila Szabó ,Giuseppe Bersani,Hironobu Fujiwara,Toshiya Murai,Krisztina Ábel ,Ilaria De Luca,Alejandra Rebeca Melero Ventola,Artemisa Rocha Dores ,Mami Shibata,Inga Griškova-Bulanova

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.689058

Abstract

Introduction: Physical distancing under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on lifestyles, including exercise routines. In this study, we examined the relationship between mental health and addictive behaviors, such as excessive exercise and the use of image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs) across 12 sport disciplines.Materials and methods: A large cross-sectional sample of the adult population (N = 2,295) was surveyed. The mean age was 33.09 (SD = 11.40). The number of male participants was 668 (30.0%). The use of IPEDs was assessed in conjunction with psychometric measures such as the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) and the Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI). The participants were grouped into activity group (AG) and non-activity group (NAG) according to the presence or absence of their exercise habits. The results were compared between these groups, as well as across sport disciplines, while taking into account the relationship between different psychological measures and IPEDs consumption.Results: The frequency of IPEDs use was higher among AG (34.6%) than NAG (14.6%), although AG participants reported less history of addictions (7.1%) than NAG (11.8%). The logistic regression analysis revealed that scores equal to or above cutoff points, in both the EAI and AAI, predicted the IPEDs use. Regarding the differences across the various sport disciplines, those who were involved in practicing Weight Lifting and Cross Fit were found to be more at risk of excessive exercising and more inclined to use a wide range of IPEDs.Conclusions: Although exercise could help to increase well-being and prevent addictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, our results show that those in the AG are particularly vulnerable to excessive IPEDs use. Sport disciplines associated with higher EAI and AAI scores have also shown a higher tendency to excessive IPEDs use. Furthermore, the factor of having above the cutoff scores in EAI or AAI in each sport could indicate larger IPEDs consumption regardless of the discipline. In light of the current findings, it is necessary to better define the “non-excessive” levels of exercise in various sport disciplines and an adequate intake of IPEDs to ensure the safety and well-being of people during a pandemic.

Highlights

Physical distancing under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)pandemic had a significant impact on lifestyles, including exercise routines
Psychological Measures The average scores for the whole samples were as follows: M = 16.52 and SD = 4.16 (EAI); M = 16.84 and SD = 5.55 (AAI); M = 30.9 and SD = 6.02 (SCS); and 736 (32.1%) individuals used image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). The numbers of those who scored above the cutoff points of Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) or Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI) were 96 (4.2%) (EAI ≥24) and 480 (20.9%) (AAI ≥ 21)
Excessive exercising has been previously correlated with excessive IPEDs use during the COVID-19 physical distancing (Dores et al, 2021), this is the first study assessing the differences across various sport disciplines in terms of EAI, AAI, and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and their level of engagement in physical activity (AG vs. NAG)

Summary

Introduction

Physical distancing under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)pandemic had a significant impact on lifestyles, including exercise routines. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a sudden and unprecedented challenge to public health, leading to dramatic lifestyle changes (Basu et al, 2020; Di Renzo et al, 2020). In this context, exercise could play an important part as a coping strategy to deal with stressful situations. Excessive exercise has not been formally defined as an addiction in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychatric Association, 2013), the concept has been increasingly debated as part of a wide range of other behavioral, non-drug-related forms of addiction, such as gambling, Internet use, gaming, eating/food, sex, and shopping, possibly leading to damaging health consequences, especially among vulnerable groups (Banz et al, 2016; Fineberg et al, 2018; Lichtenstein et al, 2018; Petry et al, 2018)

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