An investigation of exercise addictions of students at a faculty of sports sciences in terms of some variables (Kocaeli University case)

Exercise addictions of students at a faculty of sports sciences

Abstract

Regular physical activities, called exercise, have an important role in maintaining both physical and mental health. However, some researches have shown that exercise done at uncontrollable rates can be harmful and cause addiction. The study adopted survey method and aimed to examine the exercise addictions of the students in the Faculty of Sports Sciences and to determine the differences according to gender, age, exercise year, weekly exercise frequency and daily duration. The participants were selected using criterion sampling method on voluntary basis and consisted of 160 students (71 females and 89 males), aged 18-24 and over at Kocaeli University Faculty of Sport Sciences in Turkey. The data were collected quantitatively via the Exercise Addiction Scale (EAS-21) developed by Housenblas and Downs (2002) and Turkish validity and reliability study was conducted by Yeltepe and İkizler (2007), and a personal information form developed by the researcher. The normality distributions of the data were determined by the Kolmogorow-Smirnov test. The data showed a normal distribution. Independent group t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine the differences of 7 sub-dimensions of EBÖ-21 according to gender, age, exercise frequency (per week), exercise duration (daily), and exercise year. Tukey and LSD tests were performed to find out which groups the difference originated from. The results showed that 41 of the participants were asymptomatic, 106 were symptomatic, and 13 were exercise dependent. When the sub-dimensions were compared according to the age variable, a significant difference was found in the continuity and time sub-dimensions (p<0.05). The difference in the continuity sub-dimension were determined in the individuals aged 18-20 years and 24 years and over, between the ages of 21-23 and those aged 24 and over, and the difference in the time sub-dimension were observed in the individuals aged 18-20 and 24 years and over. According to the exercise frequency variable, a significant difference was found in other sub-dimensions except withdrawal and lack of control (p<0.05). The significant difference in tolerance, intention effect and time sub-dimensions arose between individuals who exercise 7 or more times a week and individuals who exercise 1-2 times, 3-4 times and 5-6 times a week. In the sub-dimension of continuity and decrease in other activities, it was due to individuals who perform sports 5-6 times a week 1-2 times and 5-6 times a week 3-4 times. In the comparison according to the variable of daily exercise duration, a significant difference was found in all other sub-dimensions, except for the lack of control sub-dimension (p<0.05). As a result, it was determined that when exercise was performed regularly, it was an element that caused addiction, but it could cause negative effects in cases such as lack of control, efficient use of time, and withdrawal from social life and family.