Could we talk about exercise addiction in the context of ultra-distance running?

Background. There is currently a debate about whether excessive involvement in physical exercise can be conceptualized as an addiction-related disorder, that is, as maladaptive pattern of behaviour that could lead to high-levels of distress and functional impairment. Scales assessing this behaviour have capitalized on a potentially flawed confirmatory approach, recycling and adapting substance use disorder criteria. This has generated a scenario of confusion, particularly when it comes to studying endurance or ultra-distance runners, where some of the assessment criteria coincide with the demands and requirements of their sporting activity. Our aim is to explore whether exercise addiction can be understood as a marker of psychological distress. Methods. An online survey was using to recruit a sample of 368 participants from 38 countries (female = 115; male = 251) from the population of ultra-distance athletes. The Revised Exercise Addiction Inventory and the Distress Tolerance Scale were used, and the training load was assessed by the number of kilometres run per month. Results. 20% of the athletes (n=72) scored ≥29, indicating a risk of exercise addiction according to the usual cut-off points used in the field. Across the whole sample, the highest scores were observed for the mood modification (M = 4.68, SD = 1.24) and tolerance (M = 4.54, SD = 1.38) items. This pattern remained unchanged when we focused on the athletes with the highest training load [mood modification (M = 4.76; SD = 1.21); tolerance (i.e., M = 4.69; SD = 1.34)], as well as weak correlations. Only the regulation factor, i.e., the tendency to act either to either avoid the experience or to mitigate it immediately, showed a low and negative association with exercise addiction (rho = -0.105*; g Heges = 0.091). Conclusions. The specific demands of sport and emotional regulation are postulated as relevant elements for conceptualising exercise addiction, given the possible overlap with some of the criteria used so far.