Weight Pressures and Eating Disorder Symptoms among Adolescent Female Gymnasts of Different Performance Levels in Greece.
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Abstract |
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This study examined the weight pressures within the gymnastics environment and explored associations between these pressures and eating disorder (ED) symptoms in adolescent female gymnasts. One hundred and forty-seven competitive gymnasts and 122 recreational-level gymnasts (11-17 years old) completed the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), the Weight-Pressures in Sport-Females (WPS-F), the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) and provided information on their training. It was found that 16.3% of competitive gymnasts and 7.4% of non-competitive gymnasts scored ≥20 in EAT-26, indicating disordered eating behavior. Competitive gymnasts scored higher than non-competitive in the total score of EAT-26 ( = 0.027), as well as in the total score of WPS-F, the sport and coaches weight pressures sub-scale and the appearance and performance weight pressures sub-scale ( < 0.001). Multiple regression analyses indicated that sport and coaches weight pressures, appearance and performance weight pressures and body mass index accounted for 30.3% of the variance of EAT-26 in competitive gymnasts, while the appearance and performance weight pressures sub-scale accounted for 16.3% of the variance of EAT-26 in non-competitive gymnasts. Sport and coaches weight pressures are associated with ED in competitive gymnasts, while body appearance and performance demands correlate with ED in female gymnasts irrespective of competitive level. |
Year of Publication |
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2022
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Journal |
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Children (Basel, Switzerland)
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Volume |
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9
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Issue |
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2
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Date Published |
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2022
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URL |
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https://www.mdpi.com/resolver?pii=children9020254
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DOI |
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10.3390/children9020254
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Short Title |
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Children (Basel)
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