Reasons for exercise inventory: A validation of the Dutch version in a community sample and a sample of women with an eating disorder

TL;DR

This study validates a Dutch version of a questionnaire that measures why people exercise, finding it useful for understanding differences between people with eating disorders and the general population.

Contribution

The study validates the Dutch version of the Reasons for Exercise Inventory and identifies three distinct exercise motivation factors.

Findings

The Dutch REI has three factors: health, appearance/weight, and mood.

The ED sample scored lower on health and higher on appearance/weight and mood compared to the community sample.

Exercise for appearance/weight correlated with eating disorder symptoms in both samples.

Abstract

The reasons for exercise inventory (REI) is a self-report instrument to assess why people exercise. It is important to assess the reasons for exercise in people with an eating disorder (ED), who regularly suffer from compulsive exercise. In this study the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the REI and differences in scores are evaluated in an ED and a community sample consisting of women. Factor analysis revealed three factors: health, appearance/weight and mood. Reliability (internal consistency, test-retest) was good. The ED sample scored significantly lower on the Health subscale and significantly higher on the appereance/weight and mood subscales than the community sample exercising for appearance/weight showed a moderately positive correlation with EDE-Q scores in both samples. The Dutch version of the REI showed promising psychometric properties that support its value for clinical and research purposes. Using three subscales may enhance research and assessment of the reasons for exercise.

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