A prospective study of teammate factors on athletes’ well-being, disordered eating, and compulsive exercise

Cross-sectional research has demonstrated the strong influence teammates have on athletes’ eating attitudes/behaviors, but less is known about the enduring nature of such influence or the stability of eating and exercise psychopathology over time. This study aimed to (a) examine whether eating and exercise psychopathology and psychological well-being (anxiety, depression, self-esteem) in athletes remain stable over time, (b) examine which teammate factors predict athletes’ eating and exercise attitudes/ behaviors longitudinally, and (c) explore whether such predictive relationships differed as a function of gender/sport type/age group. Athletes (N = 311, mean age 18.74 years, n = 171 female, n = 134 lean sport athletes) completed a survey at the beginning (T1) and middle (T2; 4 months later) of their athletic season exploring teammate factors, psychological well-being, and eating/exercise psychopathology. Wilcoxon T-Tests assessed stability in variables over time (Aim 1), structural equation modeling tested the cross-lagged relationships among variables (Aim 2), and tests of invariance explored group differences (Aim 3). Levels of eating psychopathology significantly decreased from T1–T2 while levels of anxiety significantly increased. Notably, the cross-lagged model found higher levels of self-esteem at T1 predicted lower T2 bulimia modeling, and higher levels of bulimia modeling at T1 predicted higher T2 disordered eating. Males, those participating in nonlean sports and adolescent athletes are at increased risk of modeling disordered eating. Given the importance of understanding factors that can increase/reduce athletes’ susceptibility to teammate influence, as well as the negative impact of teammate influence, these findings will inform the targeted development of team-based eating and exercise psychopathology prevention strategies.