ArticleThe International journal of eating disorders2021
Comparing eating disorder characteristics and treatment in self-identified competitive athletes and non-athletes from the National Eating Disorders Association online screening tool.
Article in The International journal of eating disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 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
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- 2025 Update to the Female Athlete Triad Coalition Consensus Statement Part 2: Clinical Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Return to Play for Adolescents and Adults.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Guideline
- Eating-disorder psychopathology in female athletes and non-athletes: A meta-analysis.The International journal of eating disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Restrictive eating disorders in higher weight persons: A systematic review of atypical anorexia nervosa prevalence and consecutive admission literature.The International journal of eating disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Maladaptive exercise: the hidden role of physical activity and sport professionals in the early detection of eating disorders.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Athletes' relationships to training: Validation of an assessment tool across female and male athletes.Eating behaviors · 2026Article
- The weight concerns scale in Australian adolescents: Factor structure, gender invariance, and screening utility.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- 2025 Update to the Female Athlete Triad Coalition Consensus Statement Part 1: State of the Science and Introduction of a New Adolescent Model.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Evaluating the muscularity-oriented eating test: Factor structure and psychometric properties among university athletes and across sexes.Eating behaviors · 2025Article
- Assessment of the Risk of Orthorexia Nervosa and Attitudes Towards Their Own Bodies among Amateur and Professional Soccer Players.Journal of human kinetics · 2025Article
- Athletes' access to, attitudes towards and experiences of help-seeking for mental health: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Athletes with eating disorders: clinical-psychopathological features and gender differences.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- The Mediating Role of Self-Criticism in the Relationship Between Coaches' Leadership Styles and Disordered Eating in Athletes.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Anorexia nervosa-the frequency of occurrence in Polish youth, the connection with stress, auto-aggressive behaviors and the abuse of psychoactive substances.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Assessment of Eating Disorder Risk According to Sport Level, Sex, and Social Media Use among Polish Football Players: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Assessment of eating disorder symptoms, compulsive exercise, body dissatisfaction and depression in Swedish national team gymnasts, with a one-year follow-up.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2024Article
- A clustering mining method for sports behavior characteristics of athletes based on the ant colony optimization.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Eating Disorders Risk Assessment and Body Esteem among Amateur and Professional Football Players.Nutrients · 2024Article
- A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression of the prevalence of self-reported disordered eating and associated factors among athletes worldwide.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Eating disorder risk in adolescent and adult female athletes: the role of body satisfaction, sport type, BMI, level of competition, and training background.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Athletes with Eating Disorders: Analysis of Their Clinical Characteristics, Psychopathology and Response to Treatment.Nutrients · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWe compared eating disorder (ED) characteristics and treatment seeking behaviors between self-identified competitive athletes and non-athletes in a large, community-based sample.
methodDuring the 2018 National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, 23,920 respondents, 14.7% of whom identified as competitive athletes, completed the National Eating Disorders Association online screen. Data were collected on demographics, disordered eating behaviors, probable ED diagnosis/risk, treatment history, and intent to seek treatment.
resultsThe sample was predominantly White (81.8%), female (90.3%), and between 13 and 24 years (82.6%). Over 86% met criteria for an ED/subthreshold ED, and of those, only 2.5% were in treatment. Suicidal ideation was reported in over half of the sample. Athletes reported a significantly greater likelihood of engaging in and more frequent excessive exercise episodes than non-athletes. Athletes also reported a significantly lower likelihood of engaging in and less frequent binge-eating episodes compared with non-athletes. Athletes were more likely to screen positive for an ED/subthreshold ED than non-athletes, but percentages across all probable ED diagnoses were similar. No significant differences between athletes and non-athletes emerged on treatment history or intention to seek treatment post-screen (less than 30%). DISCUSSION: Although the distribution of probable ED diagnoses was similar in athletes and non-athletes, symptom profiles related to disordered eating behavior engagement and frequency may differ. Athletes may be less likely to seek treatment due to stigma, accessibility, and sport-specific barriers. Future work should directly connect survey respondents to tailored treatment tools and increase motivation to seek treatment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.