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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2021

Relation between eating disorders, physical activity and psychological disturbances in sport sciences students

Résumé

Introduction: Eating disorders (ED), such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, affect 1 to 4% of the population and are more common among young female. Students can be considered at higher risk of ED than general population, especially during 1st year of study which is a transition period likely to affect the most vulnerable among them [1, 2]. Athletes can also constitute a population at risk of ED, especially those practicing disciplines within which weight and body shapes have an important influence on performance [3]. According to these findings, it can be assumed that 1st year sport sciences students could specifically have a higher risk of developing an ED. To our knowledge, no study specifically investigated the risk of ED in 1st year sport sciences students, while this population combines several risk factors. Therefore, the present study aims to verify if 1st year sport sciences students of the University of Caen are more at risk of ED than general population, and to examine psychological profile and sleep quality of high-risk students. Method: An online survey has been sent by mail to all students registered in 1st year of sport sciences at Caen in 2018 and 2019. This survey combined questions focused on practice of physical activity (PA), as well as questionnaires assessing ED, sleep quality and various behavioural and psychological variables (i.e. binge drinking, impulsivity, exercise dependence, depression, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, physical self-esteem). Results: 207 students completed the survey. They then were divided into 3 groups according to their score at the EAT-26 questionnaire, measuring ED risk (Table 1). First, results revealed that 16.9% of students obtained a high risk of ED with an EAT-26 score above 20 (GR3), and that these last ones showed a higher frequency of PA than GR1 and GR2, with a sur-representation of body-building (31%) and running (22%). In addition, scores of binge eating and most sub-scores of exercise dependence were significantly higher in GR2 and GR3 than in GR1, high scores mean more binge eating and exercise dependence behaviors. Scores of physical self-esteem were significantly lower (meaning a lower self-esteem) in GR2 than in GR1, and in GR3 than in GR2. Finally, GR3 showed a poorer sleep quality with a significantly higher score in GR3 than in GR1, a score above 21 indicates major sleep difficulties (Table 2). Discussion: Despite the small sample, our results revealed that 16.9% of students were at high risk of ED (GR3), which is more important than in general population (i.e. 8 to 12%). Compared to GR1 and GR2 these students (GR3) appeared to have more binge eating behaviours, a stronger PA dependency, as well as a lower physical self-esteem and a poorer quality of sleep. The differences were significant between GR3 and GR1. . These results are interesting in that they make it possible to specify a psychological profile for students at risk of ED and to promote early detection of ED. Further investigations are required including large students' populations. References [1] Keski-Rahkonen, A., & Mustelin, L. (2016). Epidemiology of eating disorders in Europe: prevalence, incidence, comorbidity, course, consequences, and risk factors. Current opinion in Psychiatry, 29(6). [2] Boujut, E., & Bruchon-Schweitzer, M. (2010). Les troubles des comportements alimentaires chez des étudiants de première année : une étude prospective multigroupes. Psychologie Française. [3] Filaire, E., Rouveix, M., Bouget, M., & Pannafieux, C. (2007). Prévalence des troubles du comportement alimentaire chez le sportif. Science & Sports, 22(3), 135 142.
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Dates et versions

hal-04355579 , version 1 (20-12-2023)

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Marc Toutain, Pascale Leconte, Fabrice Dosseville, Antoine Gauthier. Relation between eating disorders, physical activity and psychological disturbances in sport sciences students. 19ème congrès de l'Association des Chercheurs en Activités Physiques et Sportives, Oct 2021, Montpellier, France. ⟨10.13140/RG.2.2.10893.20968⟩. ⟨hal-04355579⟩
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