Use of the Compulsive Exercise Test With Athletes: Norms and Links With Eating Psychopathology

Abstract

1This study assessed the 5 factor structure of the Compulsive Exercise Test and explored the 2 relationship between compulsive exercise and eating psychopathology in athletes. 3Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses of the Compulsive Exercise Test were 4 conducted with 689 competitive athletes (aged 18 to 35 years). Convergent validity with the 5 Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire was explored. The 5 factor structure showed a 6 poor fit; an alternative 3 factor structure is proposed. Exercising for weight control and to 7 avoid a negative mood were strongly associated with eating psychopathology. Implications 8 for using the Compulsive Exercise Test with athletes are discussed. 9

The Athletes’ Relationships with Training scale (ART): A self‐report measure of unhealthy training behaviors associated with eating disorders

“…Some limitations are worth noting. First, although the ART demonstrated consistent factor structure, strong construct validity, and criterion validity in two samples of women athletes, this study did not include the Compulsive Exercise Test [CET; (Plateau et al, )]. Inclusion of the CET would have made it possible to compare the ART with another measure of unhealthy training/exercise to test convergent validity as well as incremental validity (i.e., testing whether the ART could predict ED symptoms and health care utilization compared to the CET).…”

“…Inclusion of the CET would have made it possible to compare the ART with another measure of unhealthy training/exercise to test convergent validity as well as incremental validity (i.e., testing whether the ART could predict ED symptoms and health care utilization compared to the CET). In athletes, the CET has three factors including: Weight Control, Avoidance of Negative Affect, and Mood Improvement (Plateau et al, ). Affect‐Driven Training may measure a similar construct as the CET's Avoidance of Negative Affect and Mood Improvement scales.…”

“…Originally developed in a non‐athlete sample, the CET assesses five factors related to exercise: Avoidance and Rule Driven Behavior, Weight Control Exercise, Mood Improvement, Exercise Rigidity, and Lack of Exercise Enjoyment. Plateau et al () tested the CET in a non‐clinical sample of athletes and found that in contrast to the factor‐structure of the CET in non‐athletes, athletes exercised for: Weight Control, Avoidance of Negative Affect, and for Mood Improvement. As a result of the differential factor structure in athletes, the authors of the CET recommended an alternative 15‐item, three‐scale CET for use in athletes.…”

Evaluation of the Compulsive Exercise Test (CET) in Adolescents with Eating Disorders: Factor Structure and Relation to Eating Disordered Psychopathology

“…The instrument has been validated in community samples of young adult women and of adolescents and has excellent internal consistency and concurrent and convergent validity (Taranis et al, ; Goodwin, Haycraft, Taranis, & Meyer, ). In non‐clinical samples, ‘weight control exercise’ is related to ED cognitions as measured by the Eating Disorders Examination‐Questionnaire (EDE‐Q) (Taranis et al, ; Goodwin et al, ) or the Eating Disorders Inventory (Taranis & Meyer, ; Plateau et al, ). Exercising to avoid negative affect, ‘avoidance and rule driven behaviour’, is also independently related to such cognitions (Taranis & Meyer, ; Goodwin et al, ; Plateau et al, ).…”

Athletic identity, compulsive exercise and eating psychopathology in long-distance runners

“…The CET utilises a 6-point scale (anchored by 0 = never true and 5 = always true) with higher levels of compulsive exercise indicated by higher scores on the CET. Plateau et al (2014) reported that there is a three-factor structure for the CET in athletes. The three subscales are: Avoidance of Negative Affect, Weight Control Exercise and Mood Improvement.…”