On the pitfalls of conceptualizing excessive physical exercise as an addictive disorder: Commentary on Dinardi et al. (2021) Cover Image

On the pitfalls of conceptualizing excessive physical exercise as an addictive disorder: Commentary on Dinardi et al. (2021)
On the pitfalls of conceptualizing excessive physical exercise as an addictive disorder: Commentary on Dinardi et al. (2021)

Author(s): Damien Brevers, Pierre Maurage, Taylor Kohut, José C. Perales, Joël Billieux
Subject(s): Behaviorism
Published by: Akadémiai Kiadó
Keywords: physical exercise; self-determination theory; addiction-based approach; process-based approach; debate

Summary/Abstract: This commentary challenges some of the proposals made in the opinion paper entitled “The expanded interactional model of exercise addiction” by Dinardi, Egorov, and Szabo (2021). We first question the usefulness of the (expanded) interactional model of exercise addiction to determine the psychological processes underlying distress and functional impairment in excessive physical exercise. We then consider the authors’ use of the Self-Determination Theory to model exercise addiction, which risks the misclassification of strenuous, but adaptive, patterns of physical exercise as exercise addiction. We finally address broader concerns regarding the idea that maladaptive exercising could be conceptualized as an addictive disorder.

  • Issue Year: 11/2022
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 234-239
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: English
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