SEX-DIFFERENCES ON EXERCISE DEPENDENCE FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN A MARATHON ROAD RACE

Considerable research has documented a tendency towards exercise depen dence among habitual exercisers; however, little research on possible differences in exercise dependence among men and women has been done. This question seems worthy of study given associations between exercis e dependence and eating behavior problems and a greater incidence of e ating disorders among women than men. Subjects, 18 men and 14 women co mpeting in a marathon road race, completed an exercise dependence surv ey developed by Hailey and Bailey in 1982. There are 14 equally weight ed items which focus exclusively on psychological rather than physiolo gical aspects of exercise dependence. Analysis of variance indicated t he women reported significantly higher scores (3.9 +/- 1.7) than men ( 3.7 +/- 1.2 , p < .05). While the design does not allow assessment of mechanisms underlying the result, one may express concern about the mo tives for participation in athletic competition.