Physical Exercise Addiction Among Students Based on the EDS-R Scale Adapted for Poland

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to adapt the Exercise Dependence Scale – Revised (EDS-R) by H. A. Hausenblas and D. Symons Downs to the Polish context and to evaluate the exercise addiction rate among students. The research was conducted online with 290 interviewees aged 19–23 years. Factor analysis confirmed the 7-factor structure of the EDS-R test and its good internal consistency. All the subscales were characterized by adequate reliability. To evaluate scale’s accuracy, the correlation between the EDS-R scale and a question concerning the number of hours of exercise per week was measured. The number of hours spent exercising per week was favorably connected with all of the subscales of the EDS-R. Those results were confirmed by differential analysis. Based on the EDS-R test, the participants were classified as (1) at risk of exercise addiction (5.5%), (2) not addicted (symptomatic group) (72.8%) and (3) not addicted (asymptomatic) (21.7%). The material presented in the article may contribute to further research using the Polish adaptation of the EDS-R scale in different populations (e.g., due to different physical activities undertaken by the exercisers).