April 14, 2023
1 minute read
Source/Disclosures
Source:
Hunt MG, et al. Sports performance anxiety, pounds, and fear of eating in collegiate athletes. Presented at: Anxiety & Depression Association of America Conference; 13-16 Apr 2023; Washington, D.C
Disclosure:
Hunt reports on consulting for Bold Health.
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The central theses:
- Irritable bowel syndrome and gastrointestinal disorders are on the rise in college athletes.
- Sport performance anxiety correlated with these symptoms, which predicted fear of food and food avoidance and restriction.
WASHINGTON — College athletes frequently reported irritable bowel syndrome and gastrointestinal distress, which has been linked to fear of athletic performance and fear of eating, according to a poster presented here.
The research was carried out by Melissa G. Hunt, PhD, Associate Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and Sophia Glinsky And Katalin Pritchard, both research assistants in Hunt’s laboratory.
Data derived from Hunt MG, et al. Sports performance anxiety, pounds, and fear of eating in collegiate athletes. Presented at: Anxiety & Depression Association of America Conference; 13-16 Apr 2023; Washington, D.C
They presented their research at the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
“Some work has looked at GI symptoms in athletes, but most of these studies have focused on how the physiology of exercise itself can lead to GI symptoms, rather than an alternative, psychological explanation for symptoms,” they said Researchers to Healio. “In addition, much of the literature examining GI symptoms in athletes focuses on endurance athletes (e.g., runners, cyclists).”
Sophia Glinsky
Katalin Pritchard
The researchers surveyed 147 student athletes who played 20 sports at 84 colleges and universities. The survey included questions from the Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnostic questionnaire, as well as questions about GI symptoms, fear of eating, fear of avoidant/restrictive feeding disorder (ARFID), and fear of athletic performance.
Overall, 22.3% of participants met criteria for IBS and 32.2% reported subsyndromic GI symptoms.
Exercise anxiety was associated with GI symptoms and anxiety about visceral sensations (both p<0.001). Additionally, GI symptoms predicted fear of food and fear-based ARFID (both p<0.001).
Melissa G. Hunt
“It was surprising that there were no significant differences in measures of GI distress, fear of food, fear-based ARFID, visceral sensitivity, or fear of athletic performance between athletes who met IBS criteria compared to those with subsyndromic IBS ‘ the researchers told Healio. “This underscores the alarming proportion of athletes who are adversely affected by gastrointestinal problems, even when they do not meet the strict criteria for IBS.”
Going forward, the researchers said interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapy may help reduce performance anxiety and GI distress in athletes.
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