CHAPTER 5
 DISCUSSION

 Overview

 The purpose of this study was to longitudinally examine eating disorder correlates

(e.g., body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, drive for thinness, and social physique anxiety)

of gymnasts and nonathletes over a six-month period. The first hypothesis stated that

gymnasts would have greater disordered eating symptoms during the competitive season

than during the preseason (Dale & Landers, 1999). The results of this study did not

support this hypothesis. The second hypothesis stated that the gymnasts would have

greater disordered eating symptoms than controls during the competitive season, but they

would not differ from controls during the preseason (Dale & Landers; Davis, 1992;

Hausenblas & Carron, 1999; Smolak et al., 2000; Sundgot-Borgen, 1993). Due to the low

response rate of nonathletes, however, this hypothesis could not be completely analyzed,

and only the preseason responses were compared between the athletes and nonathletes. In

support of the null hypothesis, I found that the athletes and nonathletes did not differ

significantly on the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 subscales or the Social Physique

Anxiety Scale. Implications of these results and future research directions are presented

below.

 Response Rate

 Although Ransdell's (1996) suggestions for maximizing response rate in

questionnaire research were followed (e.g., increase perceived personalization, gain

commitment towards the study, build trust in the capabilities of the researcher, follow-up