The indirect effect of perfectionism between anxiety, self-esteem, aesthetic pressure, and eating disorder risk in competitive figure skaters

Abstract

Background: Eating disorders are highly prevalent in aesthetic sports, where body weight and physical appearance are central to performance. In figure skating, aesthetic pressure from the competition uniform, along with psychological factors such as perfectionism, anxiety, and self-esteem, may increase the risk of eating disorder. This study examined the relationships between these variables and eating disorder risk among competitive figure skaters, and tested whether self-esteem, aesthetic pressure, and anxiety were indirectly associated with eating disorder risk through perfectionism. Methods: Forty-seven Spanish competitive figure skaters (83% female; M = 16.8 years) participated. The CHAD, MPS-F, STAI-R, EAR, and the Uniform Pressure subscale of the WPS-F were administered. Analyses included Spearman correlations, multiple linear regressions, and bootstrapped indirect-effect models. Results: The mean eating disorder risk score was close to the clinical cut-off. Significant positive correlations were found between eating disorder risk, perfectionism, anxiety, and uniform pressure, and a negative correlation with self-esteem. Regression analyses showed that uniform pressure and perfectionism were the strongest predictors of eating disorder risk. Self-esteem, aesthetic pressure and anxiety were indirectly associated to eating disorders risk through perfectionism. Conclusions: Competitive figure skaters exhibit an elevated risk of eating disorders associated with self-demand and aesthetic pressure. Perfectionism emerges as a key cognitive process associated with psychological and social factors, underscoring the potential value of preventive programs focused on managing self-demand and body image perception. However, given the cross-sectional and exploratory nature of the study and the relatively small sample size, these findings should be interpreted with caution.