The time devoted to sport activities is associated with different risk of exercise addiction and alcohol use disorder

International audienceAlthough sport activities have beneficial effects on health, excessive practice can lead to exercise addiction (EA). Previous studies have shown comorbidity between EA and alcohol use disorder, but how we could conciliate this observation with the positive effects of sport requests further research. This study aims to investigate the relationship between a proxy of alcohol use disorder and sport practice, more specifically focusing on EA, in a representative sample of the French population. Two thousand and two participants were recruited online and selected to represent the French adult population. Participants were asked to answer questions regarding sport activity, with the EAI questionnaire investigating exercise addiction, and alcohol consumption, with the CAGE questionnaire investigating a proxy of alcohol use disorder (score≥2). Alcohol use and alcohol use disorder were associated with a higher risk of exercise addiction and with more time devoted to collective sports (such as football) and two-person sports (such as tennis). The risk of alcohol use disorder seems to increase with the level of physical activity for collective sport, but to decrease for individual sports (such as running). Results support the hypothesis that the time devoted to different types of sport have different risks for exercise addiction (individual sports being more clearly concerned) and alcohol use disorder (especially for collective sports). Furthermore, the observed association between sport addiction and alcohol use disorder showes that the detrimental effect of sport on the risk of alcohol use disorder could be mediated by high level of sport activities. The social dimension of collective sports should be further investigated to facilitate preventive approaches