Prevalence of the female athlete triad in adolescent athletes

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Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Health
Department Nutrition & Integrative Physiology
Author Spence, Kristine Renee
Title Prevalence of the female athlete triad in adolescent athletes
Date 2007-10-29
Description The Female Athlete Triad (Triad) is a syndrome comprised of three interrelated conditions - disordered eating, menstrual irregularities, and compromised bone health. Understanding how, and to what extent, this syndrome affects adolescent athletes may help develop intervention programs to mitigate the frequency among female athletes and lessen the health impacts of the Triad later in life. Female adolescent athletes, 13-19 years old, were recruited through high school sport teams, camps, and athletic training facilities, to participate in a secure, confidential online survey. A partly self-developed questionnaire addressed the history and current status of menstrual function, weight, injuries, eating habits, sport participation, and training load. The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale were included to assess disordered eating and stressful situations respectively. Athletes were categorized based on sport type (aesthetic, endurance, team, other) to determine whether observance of Triad components differed among sport groups. Of the 79 athletes who completed the survey, 22.7% met the criteria for disordered eating, categorized by at least one of the following: previous diagnosis of an eating disorder, elevated EDI body dissatisfaction or drive for thinness subscale scores, use of laxatives, diet pills, or purging to control weight. Menstrual dysfunction, oligo/amenorrhea, was stated by 53.8% of athletes and 23.9% reported a sport-related bone injury. Two Triad components were observed in 5.7-15.2% of athletes and three components existed in 3.8%. Age at menarche, number of lifetime menstrual cycles, Body Mass Index (BMI), EDI subscale scores, and overall Triad prevalence were not significantly related to sport group. Triad risk was influenced by expression of body weight dissatisfaction, stress related to body shape and sport performance, and additional exercise beyond training for sport. In conclusion, focusing Triad prevention programs toward adolescents as well as parents, coaches, and athletic trainers and addressing issues related to stress, self-esteem, and body image may help reduce Triad prevalence in later years.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Eating disorders; Amenorrhea; Osteoporosis
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name MS
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Prevalence of the female athlete triad in adolescent athletes" J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections RA4.5 2007 .S64
Rights Management © Kristine Renee Spence
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 193,387 bytes
Identifier us-etd2,119865
Source Original: University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections
Conversion Specifications Original scanned on Epson GT-30000 as 400 dpi to pdf using ABBYY FineReader 9.0 Professional Edition
ARK ark:/87278/s61r755c
Setname ir_etd
ID 193855
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s61r755c