Alexithymia, rash impulsiveness, and reward sensitivity in relation to symptoms of exercise dependence in physically active young adults

Abstract

Objective. Exercise dependence refers to excessive exercise accompanied by addiction-like symptoms such as craving, tolerance, withdrawal, impaired control, and disruption of life domains. The present study investigated whether personality traits linked to substance and behavioral addictions show similar associations with symptoms of exercise dependence.Method. Alexithymia and two forms of impulsivity, rash impulsiveness and reward sensitivity, were assessed in relation to exercise dependence symptoms in a sample of 99 physically active young adult men and women. Results. All three traits showed significant positive correlations with exercise dependence symptoms and were significant predictors of such symptoms in a hierarchical regression model. Alexithymia was the strongest predictor and fully mediated the contribution of rash impulsiveness according to bootstrapped mediation analysis. Conclusions. Findings suggest similar associations of addiction-linked traits with symptoms of exercise dependence and are discussed in terms of potential mechanisms.

Alexithymia, reward sensitivity and excessive exercise in non-binge-eaters versus severe binge eaters: Implications for primary and secondary exercise dependence

“…The present study yielded some findings that were expected and some that were unexpected. The SPSRQ-SR index of reward sensitivity showed a positive relationship with exercise dependence symptoms in both non-binge and severe binge eater groups alike, consistent with previous work that did not distinguish between primary and secondary exercise dependence (Lyvers et al, 2021), and presumably reflecting the rewarding psychological and health benefits of exercise (Back et al, 2019;Dietrich, 2006;Freimuth et al, 2011;WHO, 2010). By contrast, the SPSRQ-SP index of punishment sensitivity was negatively related to exercise dependence symptoms in both groups.…”

“…This result could conceivably be explained by an aversion to extreme exertion or risk of pain in those who scored high on SP, which has been associated with high neuroticism (Lee-Winn et al, 2016) and high alexithymia (Lyvers et al, 2012) in previous work; the positive association of SP with alexithymia was replicated in the present study. Alexithymia as measured by the TAS-20, which was reported to show a positive association with exercise dependence symptoms in previous work (Lyvers et al, 2021), only showed such an association in non-binge eaters in the present study, presumably reflecting a role of alexithymia in primary but not secondary exercise dependence. In severe binge eaters, alexithymia was unrelated to exercise dependence symptoms, which might be explained by the high SP observed in the severe binge eater group (their mean SPSRQ-SP score was nearly double that in the non-binge eater group) given the negative association of SP with exercise dependence symptoms and the positive association of alexithymia with SP.…”

“…The present samples were characterized by unusually high TAS-20 alexithymia scores compared to general Australian population estimates (McGillivray et al, 2016). Similarly elevated mean alexithymia scores have previously been reported in samples recruited online, and were attributed to highly alexithymic individuals tending to spend more time on the internet compared to those with low or no alexithymia (Lyvers et al, 2021) given the association of alexithymia with excessive internet use and internet addiction (Mahapatra & Sharma, 2018). However the present high alexithymia scores could be related to another factor: the data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic when many regions of Australia were subjected to lockdowns, social distancing, changes to employment, and travel restrictions, with associated negative impacts on mental health -especially in young adults (Newby et al, 2020;Rossell et al, 2021).…”

“…One such trait, sensitivity to reward, is reportedly elevated in excessive substance users and binge eaters , presumably because certain drugs, and of course food, have primary reward properties. The rewarding effects of exercise may likewise tend to promote compulsive exercise in those with high reward sensitivity, an idea supported by the findings of a recent study on traits associated with exercise dependence that did not, however, distinguish between primary and secondary types (Lyvers et al, 2021).…”

“…Alexithymia has been linked to risky or problematic alcohol use in both clinical samples of alcohol-dependent clients (Cruise & Becerra, 2018;Thorberg et al, 2009) and in nonclinical samples of young adult alcohol users (Lyvers et al, 2018a(Lyvers et al, , b, 2019(Lyvers et al, , 2020. Alexithymia has also been linked to various other excessive behaviors including excessive use of other drugs (Ghalehban & Besharat, 2011;Lyvers et al, 2013Lyvers et al, , 2014, binge eating (Marsero et al, 2011;Westwood et al, 2017;Wheeler et al, 2005), pathological gambling (Marchetti et al, 2019;Toneatto et al, 2009), compulsive buying (Rose & Segrist, 2012), internet addiction (Kandri et al, 2014;Lyvers et al, 2016;Mahapatra & Sharma, 2018), and exercise dependence (Lyvers et al, 2021;Van Landeghem et al, 2019).…”