{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T05:04:46Z","timestamp":1784091886645,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"14","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]],"date-time":"2026-07-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783814400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This pilot study examined differences in levels of obligatory exercise between two groups of adolescents: psychiatric patients diagnosed with eating disorders and youth engaged in qualified sports. Methods: The study included 45 adolescent psychiatric patients with eating disorders and 45 students training in sports departments (track and field, judo, gymnastics), aged 14\u201320 years. The sample comprised 50 women, 28 men, 10 non-binary participants, and two individuals who declined to identify their gender. The following instruments were used: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Exercise Dependence Questionnaire (EDQ), Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire (OEQ), and Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives (IPAO). Between-group differences were analyzed using the Mann\u2013Whitney U test. Most scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach\u2019s \u03b1 &gt; 0.70), although several scales showed lower reliability estimates. Results: Adolescents diagnosed with eating disorders showed significantly higher levels of problematic eating behaviours (rg = 0.94), exercise fixation (rg = 0.71), exercise commitment (rg = 0.33), withdrawal symptoms (rg = 0.52), exercise for weight control (rg = 0.83), and insight into problems (rg = 0.77) than athletes. In contrast, athletes reported higher levels of exercise for social (rg = 0.74) and health-related reasons (rg = 0.40). Effect sizes ranged from moderate to very large. These findings indicate marked differences in the psychological motives and compulsive characteristics of exercise between adolescents with eating disorders and athletes. Conclusions: This pilot study suggests that adolescents with eating disorders differ from athletes primarily in the psychological characteristics and motives underlying exercise rather than in exercise volume alone. These findings may help inform the assessment of problematic exercise in clinical practice, although they require confirmation in larger, adequately controlled studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15145455","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,13]],"date-time":"2026-07-13T08:53:58Z","timestamp":1783932838000},"page":"5455","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Obligatory Exercise and Eating Attitudes\u2014A Pilot Study on Polish Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5355-8716","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Magdalena","family":"Jaroch-Lidzbarska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Kazimierza G\u00f3rskiego 1, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Konrad","family":"Hryniewicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Marketing and Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Management and Quality Science, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81\/87, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Piotr","family":"Sawicki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Kazimierza G\u00f3rskiego 1, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dominika","family":"Wilczy\u0144ska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Social and Humanities, WSB Merito University, Grunwaldzka 238A, 80-266 Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"735","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1360-0443.1987.tb01539.x","article-title":"Exercise dependence","volume":"82","year":"1987","journal-title":"Br. J. Addict."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Bagchi, D., Nair, S., and Sen, C.K. (2019). Psychology and exercise. Nutrition and Enhanced Sports Performance, Academic Press."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1001","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2011.571275","article-title":"Athletic identity and disordered eating in obligatory and non-obligatory runners","volume":"29","author":"Gapin","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1080\/14659890500114359","article-title":"A \u2018components\u2019 model of addiction within a biopsychosocial framework","volume":"10","author":"Griffiths","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Subst. Use"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Budde, H., and Wegner, M. (2018). Morbid exercise behavior: Addiction or psychological escape?. The Exercise Effect on Mental Health, CRC Press.","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315113906"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpsychores.2004.12.003","article-title":"The continuum model of obligatory exercise: A preliminary investigation","volume":"62","author":"Elbourne","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Psychosom. Res."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2533","DOI":"10.2147\/PRBM.S414543","article-title":"Mediating roles of psychological distress, insomnia, and body image concerns in the association between exercise addiction and eating disorders","volume":"16","author":"Imani","year":"2023","journal-title":"Psychol. Res. Behav. Manag."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.12740\/APP\/63647","article-title":"Analysis of the EAT-26 in a non-clinical sample","volume":"18","author":"Rogoza","year":"2016","journal-title":"Arch. Psychiatry Psychother."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.3109\/16066359709004348","article-title":"The development and validation of the Exercise Dependence Questionnaire","volume":"5","author":"Ogden","year":"1997","journal-title":"Addict. Res. Theory"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2059799117741406","DOI":"10.1177\/2059799117741406","article-title":"A systematic approach for accurate translation of instruments: Experience with translating the Connor\u2013Davidson Resilience Scale into Arabic","volume":"10","author":"Toma","year":"2017","journal-title":"Methodol. Innov."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"759","DOI":"10.1002\/1098-108X(198811)7:6<759::AID-EAT2260070605>3.0.CO;2-G","article-title":"Body image and eating disturbance in obligatory runners, obligatory weightlifters, and sedentary individuals","volume":"7","author":"Pasman","year":"1988","journal-title":"Int. J. Eat. Disord."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Guo, S., Izydorczyk, B., Lipowska, M., Lizinczyk, S., Kamionka, A., Sajewicz-Radtke, U., Radtke, B.M., Liu, T., and Lipowski, M. (2023). Sociocultural predictors of obligatory exercise in young men: A Polish-Chinese comparison. Front. Psychiatry, 14.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2023.1123864"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1080\/106402602753573540","article-title":"Exercise and eating disorders in college-aged women: Profiling excessive exercisers","volume":"10","author":"Ackard","year":"2002","journal-title":"Eat. Disord."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.5114\/hpr.2015.49462","article-title":"Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives\u2014A new method of measuring motives for physical activity and sport","volume":"3","author":"Lipowski","year":"2015","journal-title":"Health Psychol. Rep."},{"key":"ref_15","unstructured":"(2024, November 03). System Zautomatyzowanego Tworzenia Opisu Statystycznego [Software]. Available online: https:\/\/sztos-it.com\/."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1745-3984.1965.tb00396.x","article-title":"A ranking variable analogue of biserial correlation: Implications for short-cut item analysis","volume":"2","author":"Glass","year":"1965","journal-title":"J. Educ. Meas."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1556\/2006.7.2018.01","article-title":"Exercise addiction in adolescents and emerging adults\u2014Validation of a youth version of the Exercise Addiction Inventory","volume":"7","author":"Lichtenstein","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Behav. Addict."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1080\/106402602753573559","article-title":"Eating disorders and exercise dependence in triathletes","volume":"10","author":"Blaydon","year":"2002","journal-title":"Eat. Disord."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"529","article-title":"A systematic review on exercise addiction and the disordered eating-eating disorders continuum in the competitive sport context","volume":"21","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Ment. Health Addict."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1573","DOI":"10.1007\/s40519-019-00794-6","article-title":"The relationship between food addiction and patterns of disordered eating with exercise dependence in amateur endurance athletes","volume":"25","author":"Hauck","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eat. Weight Disord."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eatbeh.2014.10.012","article-title":"Exercise dependence as a mediator of the exercise and eating disorders relationship: A pilot study","volume":"16","author":"Cook","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eat. Behav."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"7426601","article-title":"The effect of exercise motivation on eating disorders in bodybuilders in social networks: The mediating role of state anxiety","volume":"2022","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Comput. Math. Methods Med."}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/14\/5455\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T04:13:32Z","timestamp":1784088812000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/14\/5455"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"14","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm15145455"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm15145455","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]]}}}