3.3.2. Anxiety in AN

Group 1 included four studies [62,67,73,75], which all failed to find an effect of anxiety: (a) when comparing high/non-high exercisers [62,73]; (b) using correlations between the level of anxiety and general physical activity measured in counts/day by an accelerometer [67] or actimetry [75]; (c) when comparing two levels of physical activity that are sedentary and light physical activity [67]. However, Carrera et al. [67] noticed that the more time AN patients spent in the moderate to vigorous physical activity level, the less they reported to be anxious (cf. Table 4).

Group 2 included nine studies. All studies except one [65] found an increase in PPA in cases of elevated anxiety.

Furthermore, Long et al. [42] found that anxiety levels and phobic anxiety were associated with a greater tendency for solitary and secret exercising in AN. They also found that individuals suffering from AN were more likely to cope with negative emotional states (referring to feelings of anxiety, anger, low mood/depression) by using exercise than normal controls.

In addition, Penas-Lledo et al. [54] found that AN patients who exercised had significantly greater levels of somatization in addition to anxiety than the ones who did not exercise. Thornton et al. [66] found that significantly more individuals suffering from AN with or without generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) reported more PPA than healthy controls and women with GAD only.
