2026/07/27 by Dalit Lev Arey, Tom Livni
paper · doi:10.1002/eat.70173
ABSTRACT Objective Eating‐disorder symptoms and exercise addiction symptoms frequently co‐occur, yet it remains unclear whether they reflect the same psychological risk profile or partly distinct configurations. This study examined whether attachment insecurity and emotion‐regulation difficulties show shared and differentiated associations with eating‐disorder symptoms and exercise addiction symptoms among recreational exercisers. Method A cross‐sectional community‐based sample of recreational exercisers completed self‐report measures assessing eating‐disorder symptoms, exercise addiction symptoms, adult attachment anxiety and avoidance, and multidimensional emotion‐regulation difficulties. Zero‐order correlations, simultaneous regression models, and exploratory path models with bootstrapped indirect associations were used to examine shared and outcome‐specific patterns across symptom domains. Results Eating‐disorder symptoms and exercise addiction symptoms were positively associated at the zero‐order level. In simultaneous models, attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were associated with both outcomes, although the pattern suggested partial differentiation. Eating‐disorder symptoms showed a stronger pattern of association with attachment anxiety and lack of emotional awareness, whereas exercise addiction symptoms showed a more differentiated pattern involving attachment avoidance and nonacceptance of emotional responses. Exploratory analyses of eating‐disorder dimensions further showed that exercise addiction symptoms were associated with dieting, bulimic symptoms, and food preoccupation, and oral control, with oral control showing the strongest unique association. Discussion The findings provide preliminary support for partially differentiated psychological patterns of eating‐disorder symptoms and exercise addiction symptoms. Eating‐disorder symptoms may be more closely linked to anxious attachment and difficulties noticing or differentiating emotional states, whereas exercise addiction symptoms may reflect a more avoidant, self‐reliant regulatory pattern in which distress is managed through movement, discipline, and bodily control. These cross‐sectional findings should be interpreted cautiously and require replication in longitudinal and clinical samples.