Literature Chart 8

SEMINAR PRESENTATION LITERATURE CHART

Literature Chart for Seminar Presentation

University of Toronto – Department of Occupational Therapy

Research Issues and Approaches in Occupational Therapy (OCT1121H)

Group 11: Sarah Caughy, Andrea Ford, Jenny Kim, Lisa Purdy, Jeff Mills, Shannon Van de Ven

Monday, November 29, 2004

Study Title &
Appropriate Reference / Taylor, G. M. & Ste.–Marie, D. M. (2001). Eating disorders symptoms in Canadian pair and dance figure skaters, International Journal of Sport Psychology, 32, 21-28.

Key Concepts

/ No definitions given
Criteria / Quantitative study design
Objective / See if figure skaters show eating patterns more like college students or diagnosed eating disorder sample
Methods /
  • EDI
  • Participants
  • 41 female pair and dance figure skaters, 16-22 years, 3.5-18 yrs experience, recruited from skating programs in Ontario region

Results & Conclusions /
  • Elevated scores on all levels of EDI subscales ( except body dissatisfaction)
  • Similar profile to that of eating disordered population
  • 100% had tried to lose weight at some point

Areas for Further Research
(if applicable) /
  • What are sources for weight loss pressures?
  • Small sample, specific geo location  use more representative sample

Study Title &
Appropriate Reference / Smolak, L., Murnen, S. K. & Ruble, A. E. (2000). Female athletes and eating problems: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 27, 371-380

Key Concepts

/ No definitions needed
Criteria / Quantitative study design
Objective / Hypothesized that athletes would show more eating problems than controls (non-athletes)
Methods /
  • Meta analysis
  • 34 available samples

Results & Conclusions /
  • Athletes showed to have more eating problems, but difference very small, marked by heterogeneity
  • Participants in lean sports at higher risk?
  • No significant effects in gymnasts
  • Athletic participation stressing fun, fitness an social interaction may be beneficial

Areas for Further Research
(if applicable) /
  • Very few data for meta-analysis
  • Eating problems may be different in athletes than in non athletes
  • Identify factors that distinguish participation that increases risk from that which decreases or creates no risk
  • Study younger girls
  • Relationship of ethnicity to eating disorders

Study Title &
Appropriate Reference / Williams, P. L., Sargent, R. G., & Dustine, L. J. (2003). Prevalence of subclinical eating disorders in collegiate female athletes. Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal, 12(2), 127-138.

Key Concepts

/
  • Clinical Eating Disorders
  • Subclinical eating disorder (SED)
  • Drive for Thinness subscale (DT)

Criteria / Quantitative study design
Objective / The purpose of this study was to explore associations among female athlete sport groups and their self-reported disorders eating, desire for thinness and body dissatisfaction.
Methods /
  • 587 participants intercollegiate female student-athletes from nine colleges/universities participating in 14 different sports.
  • Self-administered survey questionnaires in the presence of senior author.
  • Survey had 3 parts – EAT- 26, EDI-2, and reasons contributing the dieting and general demographic information

Results & Conclusions /
  • 118 subjects of the initial 587 were classified as having a SED
  • The mean age of the SED group was 19.4 years and the mean BMI was 23.3.
  • No individual sport met the overall mean at-risk criteria for Drive for Thinness subscale.
  • Examination of the mean scores of each sport found that no sport has a mean score indicative of risk of any individual survey.

Areas for Further Research
(if applicable) /
  • Research in the area of identifying at-risk athletes has employed a wide variety of study designs and instruments.
  • Consistent methodology world increase the reliability of results.
  • Most researchers attempting to compare different sports have group’s athletes who are similar, but inconsistent comparisons for sport categories exist in the literature.
  • Future research should focus on using consistent valid and reliable measures to assess study populations as well as techniques for subsequent intervention for athletes at risk for eating disorders.

Study Title &
Appropriate Reference / Anshel, M.H. (2004). Sources of Disordered Eating Patterns Between Ballet Dancers and Non-Dancers. Journal of Sport Behavior. 27(2). 115-134.

Key Concepts

/
  • Aesthetic requirements/pressure from the dance profession go beyond functional requirements for dance
  • Calorie expenditure in dance alone is not high enough to result in the desired weight loss
  • Motivated by the desire to achieve perfection and superior dance performance

Criteria /
  • Dancers = full time training 5 days/week and competing; Non dancers = high school students
  • High school girls (M=17.8yrs)

Objective /
  • To compare selected psycho-behavioural characteristics between Australian adolescent ballet dancers and non-dancers linked to disordered eating and to ID predisposing characteristics to eating disorders

Methods /
  • N=57 dancers; Voluntary participation
  • Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI)
→ Subscales: Drive for thinness (DT)
Bulimia
Body dissatisfaction
Ineffectiveness
Perfection
Interpersonal Distrust
Interceptor Awareness
Maturity fears
  • Food Intake Attitude Survey
→ Subscales: Importance of Physique
Determinants of Eating
Weight control behaviour
  • Quantitative scoring on scales indicate candidates at risk for an eating disorder

Results & Conclusions /
  • Dancers have greater pursuit for thinness and body dissatisfaction than non-dancers
  • Dancers displayed high perfectionism
  • Dancers did not display greater bulimic tendencies than non-dancers
  • Dancers scored higher on DT & P subscales = ↑ concern with diet & weight
  • Combination of high self-expectations and environmental values could explain relationship between DT & physique in dancers
  • Dancers lacked psychopathology associated with ED
  • Concerns with body and weight are normative among dancers

Areas for Further Research
(if applicable) /
  • Examine the antecedents of these characteristics among dancers and the effectiveness of interventions that help prevent disordered eating patterns
  • Examine the extent to which causal factors contribute to the development of ED in ballet dancers

Study Title& Appropriate Reference / Stoutjesdyk, D., & Jevne, R. (1993). Eating Disorders Among High Performance Athletes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 22 (3). 271-284.

Key Concepts

/
  • Level of competition
  • Leanness link to athletic success
  • Pressure internal to competitive environment and demands of the sport.

Criteria

/
  • High-performance gymnasts
  • Quantitative

Objective

/
  • To examine whether athletes in sports that emphasize leanness differ from athletes in other sports with regard to eating attitudes and disposition toward eating disorders.

Method

/
  • N=46 gymnasts
  • Eating Attitudes Test (EAT)
  • Demographic Questionnaire
  • Subscales: Diet and Bulimia
  • One-way analysis of variance between 4 groups of athletes- Quantitative

Results and Conclusion /
  • Gymnasts (leanness) had the second highest occurrence (17.6%) of scores greater than 30 on the EAT test. (Higher mean EAT scores) = anorexic range.Gymnastics (leanness) scored higher than other sport groups in Diet Subscale, but not for Bulimia or Oral Control Subscales.
  • Due to aesthetic demands of sport. Bulimia associated with sports requiring specific weight.
  • Athletes competing at the national & international levels scored higher than 30 on EAT (anorexic range)
  • Combo of competitive enviro (achievement pressure) and pressure for leanness that contribute to eating disorders- not so much pressure from socio-cultural demands for thinness.

Areas for Future Research /
  • The degree to which personal and contextual variables are involved in eating disorders in high-performance athletes.
  • What influences within the competitive enviro. Exist to foster the development of E.D.
  • Cultural differences among high-performance athletes in sports that emphasize leanness.

Study Title &
Appropriate Reference / O’Connor, P. J., Lewis, R. D., Kirchner, E. M., & Cook, D. B. (1996). Eating disorder symptoms in former female college gymnasts: Relations with body composition. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 64(6),840-845

Key Concepts

/ Body dissatisfaction, preoccupation with thinness, eating disorder symptoms, former gymnasts
Criteria / Quantitative study to describe eating disorder symptoms in former female college gymnasts in addition to relations between body dissatisfaction and body composition.
Objective /
  • To investigate the following questions in a sample of former female college gymnasts
  • Is the presence of eating disorder symptoms high > fifteen years after college?
  • Do symptoms of eating disorders change over the life span?
  • What is the strength of relations between body dissatisfaction and body composition?

Participants /
  • N=22; Former female gymnasts
  • Mean age = 36.6 +/- 3.8 y
  • Mean height=161.9 +/- 6.1 cm
  • Mean weight= 58.7 +/- 7.0 kg
  • Recruitment made by contacting gymnastics training centers, coaches, and former gymnasts throughout the southeastern US  each contact then asked to provide names and phone numbers of other possibly eligible participants
  • started participating in general in gymnastics on average at 11.9 +/- 0.9 y of age.
  • Controls – non-former gymnasts
  • Mean age=36.6 +/- 4.2 y
  • Mean height=162.3 +/- 5.6 cm
  • Mean weight=60.9 +/- 7.9 kg
    Recruitment made by use of flyers, radio, newspaper advertisements in the local community  no history of participation in college athletics

Methods /
  • Methods were not clearly outlined in the study; only the measures used were outlined
  • Measures used:
  • Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2) measured eleven constructs that have theoretical relevance to eating disorders
  • also computed for this study, body weight discrepancy scores = actual body weight—self-reported ideal body weight
  • Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to measure changes in symptoms of eating disorders across the life span  quantifies participants’ recollections about preoccupation with thinness and satisfaction with body shape  obtains recollections from three time periods (over the last five years, during years as a college gymnast, and years before training regularly for gymnastics)
  • Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) assessed bone mineral density, fat-free soft tissue mass, percent body fat

Results & Conclusions /
  • Not many eating disorder symptoms in female gymnasts > 15 years after retirement from sport  former gymnasts had lower scores on EDI-2 than age, height, weight-matched controls  participants reported less weight preoccupied and more satisfied with bodies than when they were college gymnasts  suggests preoccupation with weight associated with participating in college gymnastics lessens after retirement
  • Greater fluctuation in preoccupation with thinness reported across the lifespan of the gymnasts than in controls  former gymnasts report less preoccupation with thinness before puberty, greater preoccupation during college, and less preoccupation after college

Areas for Further Research
(if applicable) /
  • Longitudinal studies to explore whether weight-related psychological differences between gymnasts and non athletes emerged before or during college
  • Qualitative studies to explore how gymnasts and former gymnasts develop perceptions of ideal body weight, and what meanings these ideals hold for them

Limitations /
  • Specific population of former gymnasts was not identified, and no efforts to pick random samples among such a population were made  possibility of sampling bias
  • Former gymnasts in the study competed during a period when gymnastics was undergoing important changes  i.e. in the past 15-20 years, there has been increased emphasis on acrobatics (such as aerial movements)  having less percentage body fat provides a performance advantage  possibility that results/findings are not generalizable to competitive gymnasts today
  • Use of VAS  but lack of psychometric properties of the tool
  • Retrospective data  recollection of feelings and attitudes regarding weight and body shape may fade over time  not as strong as longitudinal data