Reynolds, Rachael A (2024) Exercise Addiction in Athletes: The Predictive Ability of Motivation and Athletic Identity. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Exercise Addiction (EA) refers to maladaptive exercising behaviours resulting in increased psychological or physiological harm. As the number of people participating in competitive sport rises, it becomes increasingly important to understand the risk factors associated with EA. Current research indicates there are gaps around understanding how motivational environments and athletic identity influence the risk of EA. This study aimed to address these gaps, with a unique focus on competitive athletes. It was hypothesized that (H1) team athletes would report lower levels of EA compared to individual athletes, (H2) disordered eating attitudes, athletic identity and psychological distress will be positively correlated with a higher risk of EA and, finally, (H3) stronger athletic identity and higher levels of external motivation will be positively associated with, and strong predictors of, a higher risk of EA. The results supported both H1 and H2, except for the predicted relationship between EA and psychological distress in H2 – where no significant relationship was observed. Furthermore, H3 was also supported as the model effect from the linear multiple regression reported a significant 32.5% variation in EA from the combined effect of motivation and athletic identity. Of note, the ANOVA indicated athletic identity was the only significant predictor in this model. Overall, these findings illustrate the importance of athletic identity on EA risk within competitive athletes. Future research should continue to investigate the risk factors associated with EA, with a particular focus on deepening the literature around the influence of athletic identity.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Wang , Grace |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2026 05:53 |
| Last Modified: | 28 Jan 2026 05:53 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | exercise, addiction, athletes, identity, motivation |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53111 |
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