Alexithymia and the Anxiolytic Effect of Endurance Running

in The Sport Psychologist

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Tim Woodman Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom

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Charlotte Welch Institute for the Psychology of Elite Performance, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2021-0039
Keywords:
coping; emotion regulation; anxiety; ultramarathon
First Published Online:
23 Oct 2021
In Print:
Volume 36: Issue 1
Page Range:
40–46
Restricted access

Individuals high in alexithymia use high-risk sport to regulate their anxiety. Given the conceptual similarities between arduous high-risk sports and extreme endurance running, we investigated the relationship between alexithymia and the anxiolytic effects of endurance running. We measured marathon and ultramarathon runners (n = 35) on alexithymia, and pre- and postrace anxiety. Bootstrapped regression analyses using MEMORE revealed that alexithymia moderated the relationship between pre- and postrace anxiety such that there was a significant anxiety reduction for individuals high in alexithymia only. In conclusion, extreme endurance running provides an emotion regulation function for individuals high in alexithymia. The modest sample size points to the need for replication and further exploration.

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