Table 1.
Features of included studies.
| Author | Objective of Review | Type of Review | Unique Participant Details or Context * | Inclusion Criteria | Number of Reviewers | Number of Databases | Date of Database Searching | Publication Date Range | Number of Studies | Instrument for Quality Appraisal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hausenblas and Carron (1999) [14] | (1) MA of DE in athletes; (2) moderators: age, BMI, sport type, competition level | MA | Mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Athlete sample; comparison with control; measure of DE; data sufficient for effect size | Unclear | 6; Dissertation Abstracts Online, Educational Research in Completion, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Sociofile, SPORTDiscus | Unclear | 1978–1998 | 92 studies | Nil reported |
| Smolak et al. (2000) [16] | (1) MA of eating problems in female athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, elite vs. non-elite | MA | Females; mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Female athletes sample compared with female non-athletes; data sufficient for MA | Unclear | 2; FirstSearch and PsychLit | Unclear | 1975–1996 (elite) | 33 studies (19 elite samples) | Nil reported |
| Hausenblas and Downs (2001) [17] | (1) MA of BD in athletes; (2) moderators: gender, age, sport type, competition level, ethnicity, body composition | MA | Mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Athlete sample and non-athlete comparison; body image measure; data sufficient for effect size | 2 | 5; Dissertation Abstracts Online, Educational Resources in Completion, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Sportdiscus | Unclear | 1975–2000 (unclear of elite) | 78 studies (19 elite) | Nil reported |
| Hincapie and Cassidy (2010) [28] | Summarise the epidemiology, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of disordered eating, menstrual disturbances, and low bone mineral density in dancers | SR | Mostly female; dancers; mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite dancers | Dancer sample; prevalence, correlates or intervention for DE, menstrual disturbances, or low bone density in dancers, in English, include at least 20 participants | 2 | 8; MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Central Trials Registry, MANTIS, Index to Chiropractic Literature, EBSCO | 2010 | 1980–2010 (DE) | 8 studies focused on disordered eating (2 professional, 2 pre-professional, 2 university, 2 young student) | Based on Carroll et al. (2008) |
| Varnes et al. (2013) [29] | (1) SR of body image in female collegiate athletes vs. non-athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, competition level | SNR | Females; collegiate athletes; USA and Canada only; mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Collegiate female sample and non-athlete comparison; measure of body image; peer-reviewed in English | Unclear | 5; Dissertation Abstracts Online, Educational Resources in Completion, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and SPORTDiscus | 1997–July 2012 | 1998–2012 | 10 studies | Nil reported |
| Werner et al. (2013) [30] | (1) SR of pathogenic weight -control behaviours in young elite athletes vs. non-athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, gender | SR | Young athletes (≤25 years old) | Elite current athletes (<25 years); measure of weight concerns or weight control behaviour; peer reviewed published | 2 | 3; PubMed, PsycINFO, Spolit | Feb 2012 | 1993–2011 | 15 studies | Nil reported |
| Arcelus et al. (2014) [31] | (1) Summarise the prevalence of ED in dancers; (2) moderators: methodology, dance type, change in diagnosis over time | MA | Mostly female; dancers; mixed competition (mostly elite) | Dancer sample (at least 10 participants); diagnosis or symptoms to establish caseness for ED; English journal articles | 2 | 3; MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase | Jul 2013 | 1985–2012 (elite) | 33 studies (27 elite sample) | Nil reported |
| Macdougall et al. (2015) [32] | (1) Comparing para- and Olympic sport athletes for well-being | MA | Para athletes | Para-athlete sample with Olympic sport athlete comparison; peer-reviewed in English | 2 | 8; MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, AMED, CINAHL. SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Web of Science | Sep 2014 | 1989–2012 | 12 studies (2 relating to body image) | Adapted from McMaster University guidelines and Effective Public Health Practice Project |
| Chapman and Woodman (2016) [33] | (1) MA of disordered eating in male athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, competitive level, measurement tool | MA | Males; mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Male athlete sample and non-athlete comparison; data sufficient for meta-analysis | Unclear | 9; PsycINFO, PsychLit, SPORTDiscus, Science Direct, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Ingenta-Connect, First Search, Google Scholar | 1 January 2014 | 1986–2013 (elite) | 31 studies (12 elite samples) | Nil reported |
| Rice et al. (2016) [34] | (1) SR of psychological wellbeing among elite-level athletes | SR | + | Adult elite athlete sample; measures of mental wellbeing; English articles | 3 | 5; PubMed, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, Cochrane; Google Scholar | May 2015 | 1994–2008 (elite) | 60 studies (10 relating to ED and body image) | Based on Glasziou et al. and Brown et al. |
| Mitchell et al. (2017) [35] | (1) MA and SR of muscle dysmorphia symptomatology in body builders; (2) investigating correlates | MA | Body builders; mixed competition level—comparisons between elite and non-elite athletes | Body builder sample with non-body builder resistance trainer comparisons; psychometrically validated measure of MD; peer-reviewed journal articles | 1 | 8; MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest 5000, Scopus, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science | Feb 2015 | 2002–2013 (elite) | 31 studies (6 elite) | Modified scale by Downs and Black |
| Mainwaring and Finney (2017) [36] | (1) SR of psychological factors associated with dance injuries | SR | Dancers; mixed competition level (mostly elite) | Dancer sample; measure of injury relating to dance; measure of psychological factor related to the injury | 2 | 4; SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO | 7 July 2014 | 2001–2015 (ED related) | 13 studies (3 relating to DE) | Custom assessment based on Finney et al. and Lagerveld et al. |
| Buckley et al. (2019) [37] | (1) SR of athletes’ relationships with food and bodies after retirement from elite sport | SR | Retired elite athletes | Retired elite athlete sample; measures of eating behaviours or body image; English peer-reviewed articles | 2 | 6; Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, EBSCO Host, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL | Aug 2018 | 1996–2018 | 16 studies | Pluye et al. (2009) |
| Mancine et al. (2020) [38] | (1) SR of DE in athletes; (2) moderators: sport type | SR | Mixed levels—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Sample of athletes; standardised tool or interview for risk of DE; English peer-reviewed published work | 2 | 1; PubMed | Jul 2019 | 2007–2019 | 12 studies (at least 7 elite) | Nil reported |
| Stoyel et al. (2020) [39] | (1) SR of evidence for a model of DE in athletes; (2) assess mediators for DE | SR | + | Sample of elite athletes; measure of DE; measure of a mediator from the model; quantitative peer-reviewed articles published after 2000 | Unclear | 4; Ovid-MEDLINE, PsycINFO, JSTOR, EBSCOhost | Nov 2018 | 2002–2017 | 37 studies | Effective Public Health Practice Project assessment tool |
| Karrer et al. (2020) [6] | (1) SR of DE in male elite athletes | SSR | Males | Adult elite male athlete sample; measure of DE; English or German language | 2 | 4; PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science | May 2020 | Not stated | 80 studies (14 controlled, 47 uncontrolled, 1 intervention, 18 reviews) | None used |
| King et al. (2021) [40] | (1) SR of jockeys’ mental health | SR | Professional jockeys | Professional jockey sample; data of mental health disorders or help-seeking; English language | 2 | 2; PubMed, Google Scholar | Jan 2021 | 1987–2019 (DE) | 16 studies (12 relating to DE) | Nil reported |
| Roberts et al. (2022) [41] | (1) SR of DE and EDs in competitive cyclists | SNR | Competitive cyclists; mixed competition level (majority elite) | Competitive cyclist sample; reference to ED or DE, eating patterns and attitudes, race weight, leanness; English peer-reviewed articles | 2 | 4; PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Google Scholar | Sep 2022 | 2003–2022 | 14 studies | None used |
| Woods et al. (2022) [42] | (1) SR of prevalence of mental health symptoms among professional footballers | SNR | Professional football players | Elite footballers sample; data on mental health disorders or their symptoms; English language | 3 | 1; MEDLINE | Unclear | 2015–2021 (DE) | 13 studies (5 relating to DE) | Nil reported |
| Chapa et al. (2022) [23] | (1) MA of ED psychopathology (i.e., DE and BIC) in female athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, age, competition level | MA | Females; mixed competition level—included as moderating variable | Female athlete sample and non-athlete comparisons; sufficient data for meta-analysis; English studies (including dissertations) | 2 | 2; PubMed and PsycINFO | Jan 2022 | 2001–2021 (elite) | 56 studies (18 elite) | Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-sectional Studies |
| Burgon et al. (2023) [22] | (1) MA and SR of BIC in adult athletes; (2) moderators: sport type, competition level, gender | MA | Mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Elite adult (>16 years) athlete sample and non-athlete comparisons; quantitative measure of BIC; sufficient data for effect sizes; English quantitative study | 2 (2nd checked 10%) | 3; Scopus, PsycINFO; PubMed | Mar 2023 | 1989–2021 | 21 studies | Critical Appraisal Skills Programme |
| Godoy-Izquierdo et al. (2023) [43] | (1) SR of association between exercise addiction and DE in competitive athletes | SR | Mixed competition level—separate syntheses for elite athletes | Competitive athlete sample; measure of DE and exercise addiction; English or Spanish peer-reviewed and grey literature | 4 | 5; Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, EBSCOhost (including SportDiscus and Psicodoc databases), and Cochrane Library | Apr 2020 | 1998–2019 (higher competition) | 22 studies (10 higher competition level) | Nil reported |
| Zaccagni and Gualdi-Russo (2023) [44] | (1) MA and SR of BIC in athletes; (2) compare general vs. sport BIC; (3) moderators: gender, sport type, competition level; body composition | MA | Mixed competition level—comparisons of elite versus non-elite athletes | Competitive athlete sample (non-clinical sample); including body silhouette scale measure of BIC and anthropometric measurements; English journal articles | 2 | 2; PubMed and Web of Science | 2012–2022 | 2012–2021 | 15 studies | Adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale for observational studies |
| Smith et al. (2023) [45] | (1) SR of mental health of cyclists | SR | Cyclists | Cyclists; psychiatric concerns; peer-reviewed articles; in English | 2 | 3; PsychINFO, PubMed, Scopus | March 2023 | 2003–2022 | 10 studies (8 relating to ED) | Nil reported |
Note. * A “+” indicates that the sample included mixed genders, mixed ages, mixed sport types, mixed countries, and only elite athletes. Only deviations from this standard are reported in the “Unique participant details or context” column. MA = meta-analysis; SR = systematic review; SNR = systematic narrative review; SSR = systematic scoping review; DE = disordered eating; ED = eating disorder; BIC = body image concerns; MD = muscle dysmorphia.