INTRODUCTION: Regular physical exercise has numerous benefits. However, there is a subset of the exercising population who may develop a compulsion to exercise excessively and who may, as a consequence, display physiological and psychological changes that have a direct influence on their quality of life. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine if there are differences between male and female athletes' scores on measures of negative addiction symptoms, quality of life, mood and sleep. METHODS: 144 female and 156 male athletes participated in this study by answering the following questionnaires: Negative Addiction Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Trait Anxiety Inventory, Profile of Mood States, SF-36 Quality of Life, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality and Epworth Sleepiness Scale. RESULTS: Higher dedication to training sessions in the male group, and members of the female group with symptoms of negative addiction to exercise showed a lower score on vigor observed by the Profile of Mood States compared to the males in both situations. We also observed depression symptoms in both members of groups who had negative addiction symptoms when compared with their peers without symptoms, and these figures were even higher in females compared with the male group in the same situation. CONCLUSION: No differences were seen in the development of negative addiction exercise symptoms in males and females and there were no changes in the quality of life and mood of these athletes. Further studies of eating disorders associated with changes in body image perception could contribute to a better understanding of negative addiction to exercise.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar se existem diferenças nos escores de Dependência de Exercício (DE), escores de humor e qualidade de vida em atletas profissionais e amadores de modalidade esportivas coletivas e individuais. MÉTODOS: Participaram deste estudo 116 atletas praticantes de modalidades esportivas coletivas (n = 60, sendo 20 profissionais e 40 amadores) e individuais (n = 56, sendo 16 profissionais e 40 amadores) do gênero masculino. As médias (± desvio-padrão) da idade, estatura, massa corporal e índice de massa corpórea (IMC) foram: 22,13 ± 6,16 anos; 1,77 ± 0,10cm; 72,76 ± 10,04kg; e 23,10 ± 2,04kg/m², respectivamente. Os atletas responderam aos seguintes questionários: Escala de Dependência de Exercício (EDE), Inventário Beck de Depressão, Idate Traço e Estado de Ansiedade, Questionário POMS de perfil de humor, Questionário SF-36 de Qualidade de Vida, em um dia de folga dentro da periodização normal de treinamento, caracterizando o estudo como transversal. O trabalho foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Unifesp (# 0616/06). RESULTADOS: Atletas amadores e profissionais apresentaram escores similares de DE, mas quando considerados os tipos de modalidade, os amadores praticantes de modalidades coletivas apresentam maiores escores, o que se inverte quando considerados atletas profissionais. Em relação aos resultados de humor, atletas profissionais apresentaram mais qualidade de vida e menores escores de humor. CONCLUSÃO: Atletas amadores e profissionais praticantes de modalidades esportivas coletivas e individuais respondem diferentemente à DE; o tipo de modalidade e seu envolvimento social e competitivo parecem ser o grande determinante. Além disso, pode-se concluir que atletas profissionais de modalidades coletivas apresentam melhor perfil de humor e qualidade de vida, tanto quando comparados com profissionais de modalidades individuais, quando com atletas amadores praticantes de modalidades coletivas ou individuais.

The purpose of this study was to verify if there are differences between exercise dependence (ED), mood and quality of life scores in professional and amateur athletes of individual and collective sport modalities. METHODS: 116 male athletes of collective sport modalities (n=60, 20 professionals and 40 amateurs) and individual sport modalities (n=56, 16 professionals and 40 amateurs) participated in this study. Age, height, weight, BMI mean (± standard-deviation) were: 22.13 ± 6.16 years; 1.77 ± 0.10 cm; 72.76 ± 10.04 kg and 23.10 ± 2.04 kg/m², respectively. The athletes answered the following questionnaires: Exercise Dependence scale (EDE), Beck Depression Inventory, Trait and State of Anxiety - IDATE, POMS - profile of mood states, SF-36 Questionnaire of Quality of Life. The study was approved by the Ethics in Research Committee of UNIFESP (#0616/06). RESULTS: Amateur and professional athletes presented similar scores of ED, but when the kind of modality was considered, the amateurs of collective modalities presented higher scores than professional athletes. CONCLUSION: Amateur and professional athletes of collective and individual sport modalities answered differently to ED, and the sports modality and competitive and social involvement could be determinant. Moreover, it is possible to conclude that professional athletes of collective sports present better profile of mood and quality of life when compared with professional athletes of individual sports when compared with amateur athletes from collective or individual sport modalities.