SynthesisJournal of behavioral addictions2020
Morbid exercise behaviour and eating disorders: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of behavioral addictions, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical Appearance Anxiety and Eating Disorders Symptomatology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Theoretical conceptualisations of problematic exercise in psychometric assessment instruments: A systematic review.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2021Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Relationship between Body Dissatisfaction and Morbid Exercise Behaviour.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Psychological Functioning as Prospective Predictors of Inflexible Eating.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- Exercise addiction: A review and evaluation of current research and theory.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Review
- Maladaptive Exercise in People With a Lifetime History of Eating Disorders: A Multicountry Observational Study.The International journal of eating disorders · 2026Observational
- More than a symptom: qualitative exploration of embodied control and restlessness in compulsive movement in eating disorders.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Social and individual factors associated with eating disorders risk among adolescents in secondary schools of Sicily (south-Italy).Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Exploring the relations between body dissatisfaction, rumination, physical activity, and restrained eating: a latent moderated structural equation approach.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Adolescent leisure-time physical activity and eating disorders: a longitudinal population-based twin study.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2024Article
- How depression and ADHD relate to exercise addiction: a cross-sectional study among frequent exercisers.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Sociocultural predictors of obligatory exercise in young men: A Polish-Chinese comparison.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Exercise addiction: A narrative overview of research issues.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2023Review
- Management of eating disorders for people with higher weight: clinical practice guideline.Journal of eating disorders · 2022Article
- A Review of the Components of Problematic Exercise in Psychometric Assessment Instruments.Frontiers in public health · 2022Review
- Characterizing reasons for exercise in binge-spectrum eating disorders.Eating behaviors · 2021Article
- Protective and Risk Factors in Exercise Addiction: A Series of Moderated Mediation Analyses.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Exercise Dependence and Body Image Concerns Amongst Group Fitness Instructors: A Self-Determination Theory Approach.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsThis study examined the relationship between self-reported symptoms of morbid exercise behaviour (MEB) and eating disorders (ED) using meta-analytic techniques.
methodsWe systematically searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, SciELO and Scopus. Random effects models were used to compute pooled effect sizes estimates (r). The robustness of the summarized estimates was examined through sensitivity analyses by removing studies one at a time.
resultsSixty-six studies comprising 135 effect-sizes (N = 21,816) were included. The results revealed: (a) small-sized relationship in the case of bulimic symptoms (r = 0.19), (b) small- (r = 0.28) to medium-sized relationships (r = 0.41) in the case of body/eating concerns, and (c) medium-sized relationships in the case of overall ED symptoms (r = 0.35) and dietary restraint (r = 0.42). Larger effect sizes were observed in the case of overall ED symptoms in clinical, younger, and thinner populations, as well as when employing a continuously-scored instrument for assessing ED or the Compulsive Exercise Test for assessing MEB. Larger effect sizes were also found in female samples when the ED outcome was dietary restraint.
conclusionsThe identified gaps in the literature suggest that future research on the topic may benefit from: (a) considering a range of clinical (in terms of diagnosed ED) and non-clinical populations from diverse exercise modalities, (b) addressing a wide range of ED symptomatology, and (c) employing longitudinal designs that clarify the temporal direction of the relationship under consideration.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.