Latent profile analysis of exercise addiction symptoms in Brazilian adolescents: Association with health-related variables

Background: The purpose of the present study is to identify profiles of adolescent exercisers based on exercise addiction symptoms (EA), and to examine differences in several health-related variables potentially related to EA across these profiles. Methods: A sample consisting of 618 adolescents, aged from 13 to 17 years, completed a questionnaire assessing EA, exercise characteristics (i.e., frequency and intensity of exercise), depression, body image (i.e., body appreciation and social physique anxiety), and disordered eating (i.e., concerns about eating and body weight gain as well as restrictive and compensatory practices). Results: The profile analysis identified three EA profiles, which were labelled: low-risk, high-risk with conflict and high-risk without conflict. Based on their scores for the health-related variables considered, the low-risk profile emerged as the least problematic; this increasing in the high-risk without conflict and even more so in the high-risk with conflict profiles. Nevertheless, individuals belonging to the high-risk without conflict profile showed similar body appreciation scores but lower social physique anxiety scores than those belonging to the low-risk profile. Limitations: The study is limited by both its cross-sectional design and the self-reported nature of the collected data. Conclusions: Conflict symptom may be relevant in explaining the differences in certain health-related variables between adolescents showing similarly high levels of EA.