Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34024038›Full record

ArticleEating and weight disorders : EWD2022

Compulsive exercise among college students: 5-year time trends in prevalence and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates.

Kyle T Ganson, Deborah Mitchison, Rachel F Rodgers, Mitchell L Cunningham, Stuart B Murray, Jason M Nagata

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Identification of Affective- and Social-Reinforcement Functions of Driven Exercise: Evidence From Three Samples.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Kyle T GansonFactor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street W, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V4, Canada. kyle.ganson@utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3889-3716
Deborah MitchisonSchool of Medicine, Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
Rachel F RodgersAPPEAR, Department of Applied Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
Mitchell L CunninghamSchool of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Stuart B MurrayDepartment of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Jason M NagataDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6541-0604
Northeastern University · USThe University of Sydney · AUTranslational Research Institute · AUUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Southern California · USUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo provide 5-year time trends in prevalence and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates of compulsive exercise among a national sample of college men and women.

methodsWe analyzed 4 academic survey years (2016-2020; N = 8251) of the national (USA) Healthy Minds Study. Compulsive exercise was measured by self-report of any occurrence of "compulsive" exercise in the past 4 weeks. Unadjusted prevalence of compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks was estimated across the 4 survey years by sex. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted among the pooled sample and stratified by sex to estimate the associations between compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks and demographic, substance use, and mental health correlates.

resultsAmong the pooled sample, 11% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.60-12.42%) of men and 17% (95% CI 15.86-18.24%) of women reported compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks. Prevalence across the 4 survey years remained stable among men and women. Higher body mass index was associated with greater odds of any compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks among men, while any sports participation was associated with greater odds of any compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks among women. Compulsive exercise in the past 4 weeks was associated with greater odds of all mental health symptoms and illicit drug use among men and women, and higher odds of alcohol use among women.

conclusionCompulsive exercise is relatively common among college men and women and is associated with substance use behaviors and poor mental health symptoms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Indexed as

Mental HealthSubstance-Related DisordersCompulsive ExerciseCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMalePrevalenceRisk FactorsStudentsAnxietyCollege studentsCompulsive exerciseDepressionMental healthSubstance use

Identifiers

PMID34024038
OpenAlexW3164644180

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.