Psychological concomitants of crossfit training

Abstract

The research aimed at studying relationships between characteristics of CrossFit training (time elapsed from starting with training, weekly session frequency) and indicators of well-being, self-esteem, body awareness, satisfaction with body image, and perceived body competence. Participants, 186 Norwegian individuals (57.5% female; mean age: 28.9±7.81 years) regularly participating in CrossFit, completed online surveys (WHO-5 Well-being Scale, PANAS, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Body Awareness Questionnaire, Body Image Ideals Questionnaire, Body Competence Scale, motivations for doing CrossFit). Weekly frequency of CrossFit sessions was not connected with positive affect (Kendall tau_b=-.02, p=.766), negative affect (-.01, p=.861), or well-being (.10, p=.068) in the correlation analysis. Similarly, overall CrossFit experience (duration x frequency) was not related to global self-esteem (Kendall tau_b=.01, p=.778), body awareness (-.04, p=.379), body image dissatisfaction (.04, p=.423), and body competence (-.07, p=.184). In the regression analysis, well-being was connected with male gender (β=-.205, p<.01), time elapsed from starting with CrossFit (β=-0.178, p<.05), dissatisfaction with body image (β=-.218, p<.01), and body awareness (β=.149, p<.05). Global self-esteem was related to age (β=.164, p<.05), body competence (β=.152, p<.05), and body image dissatisfaction (β=-.276, p<.001). CrossFit training was not connected with higher levels of psychological functioning (well-being, affect, body awareness, and self-esteem) and satisfaction with body image.