Introduction: Exercise dependence has been defined as a craving for physical activity characterized by a multidimensional and maladaptive pattern of exercise that may affect both physical and psychological health. Over recent years several measures have been developed for assessing exercise dependence. Among them, the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire (EDQ) has been validated and extensively used in the UK/European population, showing good psychometric properties. The aims of the present study are to validate the Italian version of the EDQ in a representative sample and to provide some validation against measures of eating dysfunctions, personality characteristics, and psychological distress potentially related to exercise behaviour. Methods: Participants were 259 volunteer subjects (mean age 29.9±7.9 years) reporting a wide variety of exercise behaviours. Participants completed the following self-report questionnaires: the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire (EDQ), the Eating Disorder Inventory II (EDI-2), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the Symptom Questionnaire (SQ). Results: Principal components analysis produced 6 factors which explained the 61.8% of the total variance. The internal reliability for all the 29 items was high (α = 0.923). When the EDQ was validated against the other measures, a relationship between exercise dependence and both disordered eating and personality characteristics was found. There was no significant relation to psychological distress. Conclusions: These findings substantially confirmed the validity of the conceptualization of exercise dependence within a multidimensional framework. More research is needed to further explore the conceptualization of exercise dependence and its relationships to both personality and psychological aspects
Italian validation of the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire
GRANDI, SILVANA;CLEMENTI, CECILIA;BENASSI, MARIAGRAZIA;GUIDI, JENNY
2013
Abstract
Introduction: Exercise dependence has been defined as a craving for physical activity characterized by a multidimensional and maladaptive pattern of exercise that may affect both physical and psychological health. Over recent years several measures have been developed for assessing exercise dependence. Among them, the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire (EDQ) has been validated and extensively used in the UK/European population, showing good psychometric properties. The aims of the present study are to validate the Italian version of the EDQ in a representative sample and to provide some validation against measures of eating dysfunctions, personality characteristics, and psychological distress potentially related to exercise behaviour. Methods: Participants were 259 volunteer subjects (mean age 29.9±7.9 years) reporting a wide variety of exercise behaviours. Participants completed the following self-report questionnaires: the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire (EDQ), the Eating Disorder Inventory II (EDI-2), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and the Symptom Questionnaire (SQ). Results: Principal components analysis produced 6 factors which explained the 61.8% of the total variance. The internal reliability for all the 29 items was high (α = 0.923). When the EDQ was validated against the other measures, a relationship between exercise dependence and both disordered eating and personality characteristics was found. There was no significant relation to psychological distress. Conclusions: These findings substantially confirmed the validity of the conceptualization of exercise dependence within a multidimensional framework. More research is needed to further explore the conceptualization of exercise dependence and its relationships to both personality and psychological aspectsI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
