ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2022
Behind the athletic body: a clinical interview study of identification of eating disorder symptoms and diagnoses in elite athletes.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2026).British journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Study protocol of the eating and nutritional habits in athletes and controls longitudinal examination - ENHANCE Study.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Eating disorders and associated mental symptoms in Swedish elite athletes and a comparison group.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- The impact of low energy availability risk on pre-competition physiological function in Chinese female combat athletes.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2025Article
- Factors predicting disordered eating and the prevalence of eating disorders in adolescent elite athletes, trained athletes and a reference group: a prospective controlled two-step study.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Observational
- The care episode of a young elite-level female cyclist with major depressive disorder and comorbid eating disorder: A sports psychiatry case report from Switzerland.Discover mental health · 2025Article
- Exploring the prevalence and risks of eating disorders in Lebanon's athletic community.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Boston Marathon athlete performance outcomes and intra-event medical encounter risk associated with low energy availability indicators.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- Further Validation for a Measure of Disordered Eating in an Independent Sample of Male and Female Elite Athletes: The Athletic Disordered Eating (ADE) Scale.The International 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
- Examination of the Clinical Utility of Eating Disorder and Disordered Eating Screening Tools in Young Athletes: A Scoping Review.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2025Article
- A real-life snapshot: Evaluating exposures to low energy availability in male athletes from various sports.Physiological reports · 2024Article
- Smartphone Addiction and Related Factors among Athletes.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Association of LEAF-Q and EDE-QS scores with cholesterol levels in Finnish female athletes.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Prevalence of potential risk of eating disorders among young, unprofessional European athletes: results of the ERASMUS+ project SCAED.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Patterns of energy availability and carbohydrate intake differentiate between adaptable and problematic low energy availability in female athletes.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- A 4pL item response theory examination of perceived stigma in the screening of eating disorders with the SCOFF among college students.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2023Article
- Body dissatisfaction, disordered eating and exercise behaviours: associations with symptoms of REDs in male and female athletes.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2023Article
- "There just isn't any other option-so we just have to put up with it": mental health in women's cycling and the necessity of structural change.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Eating disorders are more prevalent in athletes than in the general population and may have severe consequences for sports performance and health. Identifying symptoms can be difficult in athletes because restrictive eating and slim body images are often idealised in a sports setting. The Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the SCOFF (Sick, Control, One stone, Fat and Food) questionnaire (SCOFF) are widely used generic instruments to identify symptoms of eating disorders. This study aimed to investigate the instruments' validity and explore eating disorder symptoms in a sample of athletes. A sample of 28 athletes (25 females) competing at a national level was interviewed based on the diagnostic criteria for eating disorders. We interviewed 18 athletes with a high score on EDE-Q and 10 with a low score. All interviews were transcribed and analysed from a general inductive approach. We identified 20 athletes with an eating disorder diagnosis, while 8 had no diagnosis. EDE-Q found 90% of the cases, while SCOFF found 94%. EDE-Q found no false-positive cases, while SCOFF found one. The qualitative results showed that most athletes reported eating concerns, restrictive eating, eating control (counting calories), weight concerns, body dissatisfaction (feeling fat and non-athletic), excessive exercise and health problems (eg, pain, fatigue). In conclusion, EDE-Q and SCOFF seem valid instruments to screen athletes' samples but may fail to find 6%-10% cases with eating disorders. Despite athletic bodies and normal body mass index, many athletes report severe eating problems and dissatisfaction with weight and body appearance. Implementation of regular screening may identify these symptoms at an early stage.
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