{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T02:14:22Z","timestamp":1784168062007,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":66,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,1]],"date-time":"2022-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1659312000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sports Act. Living"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper was to explore maladaptive behaviors among physically active individuals, including exercise dependence and use of anabolic steroids. Both exercise addiction (EA) and use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) correlate to high amounts of exercise and EA have been linked to eating disorders and other mental health problems.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>An internet survey was spread through fitness-related social media. Inclusion criteria were age \u2265 15 years and exercise frequency \u2265 thrice weekly. Exercise addiction inventory identified those at-risk of EA (rEA). Characteristics of rEA were compared to those not at risk. In a separate analysis, AAS users were compared to AAS-na\u00efve individuals.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>In total, 3,029 participants completed the questionnaire. Of these, 11% screened positive for being rEA, and 23% for ED. Factors associated with EA included daily exercise, social phobia, eating disorders and OCD. Risk consumption of alcohol was a negative predictor. Thirty seven participants had taken AAS the last year. These were mainly men, bodybuilders\/powerlifters and more often used amphetamines and opioids.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>This exploratory study supports EA being strongly associated with eating disorders. Identified associations between EA and compulsive or anxiety disorders warrant further research to clarify if these associations arise prior to, together with, or secondary to EA.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2022.903777","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,1]],"date-time":"2022-08-01T05:36:16Z","timestamp":1659332176000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Understanding exercise addiction, psychiatric characteristics and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among recreational athletes \u2013 An online survey study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Bj\u00f6rn","family":"Gunnarsson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Artin","family":"Entezarjou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fernando","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez-Aranda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Susana","family":"Jim\u00e9nez-Murcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"G\u00f6ran","family":"Kentt\u00e4","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anders","family":"H\u00e5kansson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1991","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.026945","article-title":"Cardiovascular toxicity of illicit anabolic-androgenic steroid use","volume":"135","author":"Baggish","year":"2017","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"679","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2007-965808","article-title":"Side effects of anabolic androgenic steroids abuse","volume":"29","author":"Bonetti","year":"2008","journal-title":"Int. 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