A Screening Tool for Exercise Addiction: The Psychometric Properties of the Italian Exercise Addiction Inventory

Abstract

Exercise addiction is characterized by morbid pattern of behavior which may have negative psychological consequences, seriously compromising the lives of those affected. The Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) is one of the most used psychometric instruments for assessing the risk of exercise addiction and has been translated into a number of languages. However, it has never been psychometrically validated in Italian. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to test the psychometric properties of the EAI among Italian-speaking exercisers. The back-translation process was utilized to develop an Italian version of the EAI. A cross-sectional online survey was used to recruit a sample of 331 Italian regular exercisers (M age = 30.64 years, SD = 12.10). The participants completed the Italian EAI, alongside a battery of other self-report psychometric scales used to assess some aspects of the concurrent validity of the EAI. The one-factor structure of the EAI was confirmed, which also showed good internal consistency and a satisfactory construct validity in the Italian version. No gender differences were found for the risk of exercise addiction. The data obtained in this study provide some evidence suggesting that Italian Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) is a valid and reliable self-report scale that can be used to assess the risk of exercise addiction among Italian-speaking individuals. The scale showed some psychometrically robust features, and is a quick and easy-to-use scale that can be used in different cultures and countries, including Italy.

The Persian Exercise Addiction Inventory—Adult and Youth Versions: Psychometric Properties Based on Rasch Analysis Among Iranians

“…The outcomes of the present study showed that the Persian versions of EAI and EAI-Y both had unidimensional structure and good internal consistency when analyzed using both the CTT and Rasch techniques. The unidimensional structure was comparable to the proposed structure in the original English version (Terry et al, 2004) as well as other translated versions in non-English countries such as Mexico (Salazar et al, 2021), Italy (Gori et al, 2021), Denmark (Lichtenstein et al, 2012), and Hungary (Mónok et al, 2012). Additionally, the invariance of items in the Persian version across gender and age is consistent with crosscultural studies conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark, and Hungary (Griffiths et al, 2015).…”

“…Since then, a number of validation studies have confirmed the psychometric properties of the EAI in different cultures and sport settings. For example, the EAI has been found to be an adequate and reliable instrument in Mexico (Salazar et al, 2021), Spain (Alías-García et al, 2013, Hungary (Mónok et al, 2012), Italy (Gori et al, 2021). In a series of studies in the Danish context, Lichtenstein et al (2012Lichtenstein et al ( , 2014Lichtenstein et al ( , 2016 found good reliability and construct validity for the EAI among samples of Danish elite athletes, football players, fitness exercisers, and cross-fitters (a mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise).…”

An Integrated Approach to Addictive Behaviors: A Study on Vulnerability and Maintenance Factors

“…Therefore, emphasis was placed on the experiences with caregivers and insecure attachment, and negative developmental environments were considered risk factors for addiction occurrence [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. These attachment failures might represent the source of childhood traumatic experiences [ 13 ] and deficits in emotion regulation skills [ 14 ], with difficulty modulating, processing, and communicating emotions (i.e., alexithymia; [ 15 ]) as a consequence; this condition, in turn, could lead to a defensive withdrawal into dissociated mental states to cope with painful emotions [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], which has been associated both theoretically and empirically with addictive behaviors [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. However, the escape into the temporary retreat of substance use or addictive behavior further hinders the possibility of developing regulatory skills [ 4 ] by pushing toward an impulsive and compulsive search for immediate (but not lasting) gratification and making the substance or behavior as central in the individual’s life with recurrent and persistent thoughts, therefore facilitating the perpetuation of the addiction and, ultimately, hindering the treatment [ 26 ].…”

The Thin Ideal and Attitudes towards Appearance as Correlates of Exercise Addiction among Sporty People during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Drive for leanness refers to the tendency to extreme aspiration of being thin and being afraid of gaining weight, as well as a particular recognition of diet concerns [ 33 ]. It has frequently been found to be a significant predictor of compulsive exercise in cases where losing weight is one of the main personal goals [ 34 , 35 , 36 ].…”