Antecedents of exercise dependence in ultra-endurance sports: Reduced basic need satisfaction and avoidance-motivated self-control The initiation and maintenance of sports and motive behavior is usually discussed in health promotion strategies. In the present study, we analyzed a sample of extreme endurance athletes and made us to predict the addiction that is a facet of a sports health risk. We are therefore based on the self-determination theory after which low psychological needs can lead to excessive compensatory behavior. We aim to unravel the effects of the need for the activity in the activity itself (exercise) and outside the activity (work / leisure) to the addiction. In addition, we suggest an anxious self-motivation as a mediator and test whether it connects a low basic need for training with a training dependency.
A correlation study with 323 multi-triathlon athletes confirmed our hypothesis that the need for need in work / leisure (but not in sports) is negatively associated with the addiction. In addition, only competence requirement in both areas (sports, work / leisure) is associated with anxious self-motivation. Mediation models showed that low competence satisfaction leads to an anxious self-motivation, which in turn predicts a dependency addiction. The results are critically discussed in terms of their practical and theoretical implications for health promotion through sports and exercise. The work can be found under http://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01275/abstract