(PS8-A10) Exercise Identity, Body Image Concerns, and Anxiety as Predictors of Compulsive Exercise Among College Students

Compulsive exercise (e.g., high exercise frequency combined with the inability to reduce or stop exercising) is considered a key unmet challenge in the treatment of eating disorders. However, psychosocial risk factors for compulsive exercise are unknown, hindering the development of effective preventative interventions and treatment protocols. Research suggests that exercise identity (i.e., the extent to which one identifies as an exerciser), anxiety, and body dissatisfaction all are independently associated with compulsive exercise. Investigating these constructs as individual predictors of compulsive exercise precludes conclusions about which variables may be the most effective targets in prevention and treatment programs. The present study simultaneously examined associations among exercise identity, anxiety, body dissatisfaction and compulsive exercise, and used dominance analyses to determine the unique variance in compulsive exercise that was accounted for by each of these constructs. It was anticipated that all three variables would be significantly associated with compulsive exercise. However, given that body dissatisfaction is a key risk factor for common disordered eating behaviors (e.g., restriction), it was hypothesized that body dissatisfaction would be the most strongly associated and account for the most variance in compulsive exercise. A total of 435 individuals (49.1% male) completed the Exercise and Eating Disorders questionnaire, the Body Uneasiness Test- Body Image subscale, the Exercise Identity Scale, and the PROMIS anxiety short form. Results partially supported hypotheses. Controlling for sex, exercise identity (B= .53, SE= .53, p< .001), body image concerns (B = .42, SE= .42, p< .001), and anxiety (B = .08, SE= .08, p=.035) were all significantly associated with compulsive exercise. Unexpectedly, not only did exercise identity have the strongest standardized regression estimate, dominance analyses suggested that exercise identity accounted for the largest proportion of variance in compulsive exercise (Dominance R²=.27). Results suggest that exercise identity may be a useful screening tool to identify individuals at risk of compulsive exercise. Further, developing a positive personal identity in eating disorders treatment is effective for reducing eating disorder symptoms. Findings from the present study suggest that incorporating exercise identity into pre-existing identity components of eating disorder treatments may contribute to the reduction of compulsive exercise behaviors.