Muscle dysmorphia, body image disturbances and commitment to exercise: A comparison between sedentary and physical active undergraduate men

Abstract

This study compared muscle dysmorphia symptoms, body image disturbances (body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity and body-ideal internalization) and commitment to exercise between sedentary and physical active subjects. For this, we evaluated 265 undergraduate men (22.4±3.7 yrs.). The following measures were applied: sociodemographic data, Muscle Dysmorphia Disorder Inventory (muscle dysmorphia), Male Body Dissatisfaction Scale (body dissatisfaction), Drive for Muscularity Scale (drive for muscularity), Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (body-ideal internalization) and Commitment to Exercise Scale (commitment to exercise). Participants were classified as sedentary, physically active (frequency ranging between one to four times a week) and very active (frequency five times a week or more). Analysis of variance (ANOVA one-way), followed by Tukey post hoc showed significant differences between sedentary and physically very active groups on body dissatisfaction (5.7±1.1 and 5.2±1.0 a.u.; p = .042), drive for muscularity (27.3±10.0 and 33.5±12.1 a.u.; p = .001) and commitment to exercise (259.9±199.6 and 536.3±216.6 a.u.; p = .001). Difference was also observed between active and very active groups, but only to commitment to exercise (440.9±214.2 and 536.3±216.6 a.u.; p = .001). Our results showed that drive for muscularity and commitment to exercise is higher in very active when compared to sedentary subjects. However, sedentary group manifested higher body dissatisfaction than very active. Very active undergraduate men showed higher commitment to exercise than active and sedentary did. Finally, no differences were observed between groups for muscle dysmorphia symptoms and body-ideal internalization. In conclusion, our data add information to the scientific debate demonstrating that there are differences between physically active and sedentary subjects regarding body image disturbances and commitment to exercise. Body dissatisfaction, drive for muscularity and commitment to exercise vary between sedentary and active subjects, and appears to be dose dependent.