There is growing concern for eating pathology and body dissatisfaction in sports; particularly, in sports that emphasize a lean body type. In 325 female collegiate swimmers/divers and gymnasts, we examined psychosocial well-being (i.e., perception of weight pressures, levels of internalization, body satisfaction, dietary intent, negative affect) at the beginning and end of an athletic season and predict their eating disorder classification at the end of their athletic season. Logistic regressions revealed that a model containing all 14 predictors at the beginning and end of an athletic season significantly predicted eating disorder classification at the end of an athletic season. Specifically, in the longitudinal logistic regression, with every one unit of increase on a measure of the pressure felt within the sport environment regarding their weight and every unit increase on a measure of their intentions to diet, respectively, the female athletes were 49% and 89% more likely to be classified in the subclinical/clinical group at the end of their sport season. Surprisingly, with every one unit of increase on a measure of sociocultural pressure to exercise, female athletes were 43% less likely to be classified in the subclinical/clinical group six months later. The cross-sectional logistic regression found that only dietary …

Elite and collegiate athletes are subpopulations at increased risk for the development of disordered eating and pathogenic weight management strategies; such risks may extend beyond sport participation into sport retirement. As athletes self-weigh, whether during their time in competitive sport or in retirement, it would be expected that they also experience increases in body dissatisfaction and psychosocial distress. Results suggest both a longitudinal impact, as well as continued cross-sectional relationships between SW and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, former SW (at Time 1) is related to their levels of body satisfaction in relation to the Body factor and the Overall Body at Time 2. Particularly, athletes who weighed themselves 7+ more times a week reported significantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction on the Overall Body factor and the Body factor than retired athletes who did not self-weigh, all other groups did not differ significantly from each other. Cross-sectional relations were found between current (Time 2) SW and Body Satisfaction (Overall Body, and Body factors), Dietary Restraint, and Bulimic Symptomatology. In all cases, those who engaged in SW 7+ times per week had significantly higher scores than all other groups.

Female athletes have been established as a high-risk group for disordered eating due to the high prevalence rates of clinical (i.e., 1.9% to 19.9%) and subclinical eating disorders (i.e., 7.1% to 49.2%). To date, only a few studies have examined the long-term stability of eating disorders in collegiate female athletes, a design that will allow examination of change in prevalence rates over time. Additionally, researchers have attempted to identify psychosocial risk factors in the development of disordered eating, but short time frames (e.g., competitive season, one year) during which data was collected have limited their findings. The current study investigated the progression in prevalence of eating disorder classification (i.e., eating disordered [ED], subclinical ED, asymptomatic), pathogenic weight control behaviors (e.g., laxative use, vomiting), and the predictive ability of psychosocial risk factors (e.g., body dissatisfaction, negative affect) from the time in which female athletes were active collegiate competitors (Time 1) to a time six years later, in which the women were retired (Time 2). By Time 2, the women were categorized as asymptomatic (69.9%), subclinical ED (26.9%), and clinical ED (3.1%). The prevalence of those who were disordered (i.e., either subclinical or clinical ED) increased from 22.8% (Time 1) to 30.1% …