INTERRELATIONSHIP OF STRESS, BODY IMAGE, NEGATIVE MOOD STATE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ABNORMAL EATING BEHAVIOUR AMONG GAME SPECIFIC FEMALE ATHLETES: AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH

Purpose: To achieve and maintain a perfect body shape athlete often follows restrictive dieting which ultimately leads them to eating disorders. The purpose of the study was to identify whether there is an interrelationship of abnormal eating behaviours, perceived stress, negative mood state and self-perception of body image among athletic population and another was to observe the consequences of negative psychological well-being and game specificity on food choices and frequency. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify the “at risk-eating disorder” participants who were involved in different sports category. Methods: One thirty eight healthy young female participants matched for BMI were selected by purposive sampling. Subjects were divided into 4 categories i.e. aesthetic games group, endurance groups, strength group and healthy controls. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection during their non-competitive session. ANOVA followed by Scheffe’s test was applied to compare different parameters among the groups. Regression model examined the associations among disordered eating behaviours, stress, body shape concern, emotional eating, total mood disturbance and food choice. Findings: Result revealed disordered eating behaviour was significantly prominent in control and aesthetic game group than other two groups. Control group obtained the highest score in stress and emotional eating while aesthetic game group secured the highest score in body shape concern. Mood disturbance was more prevalent in strength group. Body mass index, body shape concern, emotional eating and total mood disturbance were identified as strongest predictor of EAT-26 scores. The result revealed that controls and aesthetic game group exhibit more abnormal eating behaviours than others. Value: This result will help to indicate abnormal eating behaviour and its relation with psychological well-being among female athletic population. Interventions programmes should be designed to cope up with competitive pressure to avoid abnormal eating behaviour. Article visualizations