International Journal of Sport, Exercise and Health Research 2025; 9(2): 31-37 DOI:10.31254/sportmed.9201
Validation of the Expanded Exercise Addiction Inventory (EEAI) in Chinese College Students
Run Tian1 , Yihan Liao1 , Yuling Duan1 , Wang Zhang1 , Siqi Wang1 , Yunyan Xue1 , Yu Liu1 , Xing Zhang2 , Mingyue Yin3 , Hansen Li1
1. School of Physical Education, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an 625014, China
2. Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada 18071, Spain
3. School of Athletic Performance, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 66315, China
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 8th September, 2025 / Accepted: 8th December, 2025 / Published : 12th February, 2026
The Expanded Exercise Addiction Inventory (EEAI) is a newly adapted instrument designed to comprehensively assess maladaptive tendencies toward excessive exercise. This study aimed to preliminarily validate the psychometric properties of the Chinese translation of the EEAI among university students, a population characterized by high levels of physical activity. A total of 440 undergraduate students were recruited from a university, and their levels of exercise addiction, physical activity, and mental well-being were assessed using the EEAI, the Revised Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI-R), the WHO Mental Well-Being Index, and the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS). We examined the structural validity, convergent validity, and internal consistency of the EEAI. In addition, test-retest reliability over a two-week interval was assessed in a subsample. The results indicated that the revised structure of the EEAI demonstrated acceptable levels of structural, convergent, and internal consistency. However, neither the translated EEAI nor the previously validated EAI-R exhibited acceptable test-retest reliability. In conclusion, our findings support the use of the EEAI as a tool for investigating exercise addiction among university students in mainland China, while also highlighting the temporal instability of this construct.
Exercise, Physical activity, Sport, Health, Addiction.
