What Predicts Drive for Muscularity in Collegiate Athletes v. Non-Athletes?

In the past decade, research has begun to focus not only on dieting and exercise to lose weight, but dieting and exercise to gain muscle mass (drive for muscularity; DFM). While research has established that men tend to exhibit greater levels of DFM than women, little research has examined the influence of athletic status on drive for muscularity in male and female college students. The present study surveyed 290 student participants (30 female athletes, 38 male athletes, 139 female non-athletes, 82 male nonathletes and asked them about their DFM as well as factors known to relate to DFM. As expected, men and athletes exhibited higher levels of DFM than did women and nonathletes; however different variables predicted DFM in the four groups. Implications for prevention and treatment of DFM are discussed. Research concerning the influence of participation in athletes on disordered eating and exercise behaviors is controversial. Some research indicates that athletes are more vulnerable to developing disordered eating and exercise behaviors than are non-athletes (Engel et al., 2003; Patel, Greydanus, Pratt, & Phillips, 2003; Smolak, Murnen, & Ruble, 2000). However, some research has found no differences in disordered eating and exercise behaviors between female athletes and non-athletes who engaged in regular exercise (Kirk, Singh, & Getz, 2001; Krane, Stiles-Shipley, Waldron, & Michalenok, 2001). Furthermore, some studies have found that participation in athletics can serve as a buffer to the development of disordered eating behaviors (Reinking & Alexander, 2005). One explanation for these differences is that athletic status may influence certain types of disordered eating and exercise behaviors, but not others (Hausenblas & McNally, 2004). Thus, it is important to examine the influence of athletic status on each type of disordered eating and exercise behaviors and not just lump them all together. One little-investigated type of disordered eating and exercise behaviors known to affect athletes more than non-athletes is drive for muscularity (McCreary & Sasse, 2000). Drive for muscularity is defined as “the desire to achieve an idealized, muscular body type” (Morrison, Morrison, & Hopkins, 2003, p. 113). Many individuals will go through excessive changes in body behaviors in order to increase their muscularity (Chittester & Hausenblas, 2009). But Mary Pritchard and Alli Nielsen 2 certain individuals appear to be more vulnerable to the drive than others; one such group may be athletes. For example, Zelli, Lucidi, and Mallia (2010) reported that recreational and competitive male and female adolescent athletes exhibited a significantly stronger drive for muscularity than did non-athletes (but see Jankauskienė & Kairaitis, 2007, who reported no differences between athlete and non-athlete adolescent males). In fact, Raudenbush and Meyer (2003) reported that all the male collegiate athletes in their study desired to become more muscular. This is especially true when weight-lifting is the sport involved (Hallsworth, Wade, & Tiggemann, 2005). It is important to examine factors affecting drive for muscularity because it has been associated with low levels of self-esteem (Chittester & Hausenblas, 2009; McCreary & Sasse, 2000), depression (McCreary & Sasse, 2000), dieting to gain weight (McCreary & Sasse, 2002), social physique anxiety (Duggan & McCreary, 2004), self-oriented perfectionism (Davis, Karvinen & McCreary, 2005), eating pathology, and substance abuse (Chittester & Hausenblas, 2009). Below we will discuss some of the factors proposed to influence drive for muscularity.