Commentary

Commentary

Nanette Mutrie

Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine, University of Glasgow, 64 Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LT, UK

See also page 423.

There is an assumption in the popular press that exercise dependence is common and an indicator of serious mental health problems. In fact, the prevalence of exercise dependence and its psychological effects are unknown. One major issue in previous writing has been lack of agreement of a definition (which would conform to criteria used for assessing other dependencies such as drug dependence) and a valid and reliable measuring tool. The authors of this study and a parallel quantitative study¹ have used valid and reliable measuring tools complemented by qualitative data from interviews and have found that when exercise dependence is present it is likely to be secondary to an eating disorder. These findings support Veale's observation² that primary exercise dependence is rare and may help to dispel the popular press viewpoint that everyone who begins an exercise programme is at risk of becoming dependent.

1. Bamber D, Cockerill I, Carroll D. The pathological status of exercise dependence. Br J Sports Med 2000;34:125–32.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Veale DMW. Does primary exercise dependence really exist?In: Annett J, Cripps B, Steinberg H, eds. Exercise addiction: motivation for participating in sport and exercise. Leicester: The British Psychological Society, 1995:1–5.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

"It's exercise or nothing": a qualitative analysis of exercise dependence

D Bamber, I M Cockerill, S Rodgers, D Carroll
Br. J. Sports Med. 2000 34: 423-430. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dunning, E., Waddington, I. (2003). Sport as a Drug and Drugs in Sport: Some Exploratory Comments. International Review for the Sociology of Sport 38: 351-368 [Abstract]