Disordered eating habits and muscle dysmorphia risk among male athletic body types across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III

Athletes competing in sports where weight standards are set or appearance is important may become concerned about weight. This concern may result in motivation to become thinner (Petrie, 1996) and increased risk for eating disorders (Biesecker & Martz, 1999). Conversely, athletes involved in sports in which a muscular physique is important for performance may experience symptoms of muscle dysmorphia (Olivardia, 2001). Past research has predominantly focused on females (Grieve, 2007) and athletes competing at the NCAA Division I level. Few studies have targeted males and athletes at Division II and Division III (Petrie, 1996). The current study attempted to fill these research voids by examining male athletes across all NCAA Divisions. It was hypothesized that, after controlling for physical size, athletes involved in sports emphasizing a muscular physique would report higher rates of muscle dysmorphia than athletes in sports emphasizing an intermediate physique, who would report higher rates than those in sports emphasizing a lean physique. It was further proposed that Division I sports would report higher rates of muscle dysmorphia than combined Division II and III sports. In addition, it was hypothesized that, after controlling for physical size, athletes in sports emphasizing a lean physique would report higher rates of disordered eating than athletes involved in sports emphasizing an intermediate physique, who would report higher rates than those in sports emphasizing a muscular physique. It was also predicted that there will be higher rates of disordered eating in Division I than Division II and Division III combined. Results did not support the hypotheses; however, results of one hypothesis were the direct opposite of expected. Specifically, athletes in sports emphasizing a lean body type reported the highest rates of muscle building behaviors.