What symptoms do the sporting individuals suffer from?

It was found that sporting individuals reporting high exercise addiction symptoms were narcissistic and neurotic. However, these results could have potentially been heightened due to participants reporting their dedication to the sport or increased stress levels. Thus it would be important to examine determinants such as stress and anxiety. Examining the relationship between specific facets of personality could be important for understanding why individuals exercise excessively. Those reporting high exercise addiction tended to report high levels of narcissism, analyzing traits of narcissism such as self-esteem, self-worth, and admiration, which could prove effective in identifying those at risk of exercise addiction.

Further research should investigate the relationship between exercise addiction and personality in professional athletes both in individual and team sports so that the generalizations can extend beyond those of students. This will also ensure that the level of competition is not varied in the sample, therefore increasing reliability. Although exercise is genuinely considered a healthy behavior, it can also be a behavior which is deemed as negative that can have psychological issues. Therefore, exploring the components from Griffiths Model of Addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse) along with exercise, will allow participants to be branded as either psychological or physiological dependent on exercise, which will avow them to recognize and reduce their addiction.