Coach perceptions of performance enhancement in adolescence: The sport drug control model for adolescent athletes

Psychosocial predictors of doping intentions and use in sport and exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a meta-analytic review of psychosocial predictors of doping intention, doping use and inadvertent doping in sport and exercise settings.

DESIGN

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES

Scopus, Medline, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL Plus, ProQuest Dissertations/Theses and Open Grey.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Studies (of any design) that measured the outcome variables of doping intention, doping use and/or inadvertent doping and at least one psychosocial determinant of those three variables.

RESULTS

We included studies from 25 experiments (N=13 586) and 186 observational samples (N=3 09 130). Experimental groups reported lower doping intentions (g=-0.21, 95% CI (-0.31 to -0.12)) and doping use (g=-0.08, 95% CI (-0.14 to -0.03), but not inadvertent doping (g=-0.70, 95% CI (-1.95 to 0.55)), relative to comparators. For observational studies, protective factors were inversely associated with doping intentions (z=-0.28, 95% CI -0.31 to -0.24), doping use (z=-0.09, 95% CI -0.13 to to -0.05) and inadvertent doping (z=-0.19, 95% CI -0.32 to -0.06). Risk factors were positively associated with doping intentions (z=0.29, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.32) and use (z=0.17, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.19), but not inadvertent doping (z=0.08, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.22). Risk factors for both doping intentions and use included prodoping norms and attitudes, supplement use, body dissatisfaction and ill-being. Protective factors for both doping intentions and use included self-efficacy and positive morality.

CONCLUSION

This study identified several protective and risk factors for doping intention and use that may be viable intervention targets for antidoping programmes. Protective factors were negatively associated with inadvertent doping; however, the empirical volume is limited to draw firm conclusions.

Applying a systems thinking lens to anti-doping: A systematic review identifying the contributory factors to doping in sport

The use of performance enhancing substances and methods (known as "doping") in sport is an intractable issue, with current anti-doping strategies predominantly focused on the personal responsibility and strict liability of individual athletes. This is despite an emerging understanding that athletes exist as part of a broader complex sports system that includes governance, policymakers, media, sponsors, clubs, team members, and athlete support staff, to name a few. As such, there is a need to examine the broader systemic factors that influence doping in sport. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and synthesise the factors contributing to doping and doping behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs and the extent to which this knowledge extends beyond the athlete to consider broader sports systems. The review followed PRISMA guidelines with risk of bias and study quality assessed by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, and identified contributory factors synthesised and mapped onto a systems thinking-based framework. Overall, the included studies were determined to be of high quality. Support personnel, the coach, and the coach-athlete relationship represent key influences on the athletes' decisions to dope. From the evidence presented, doping is an emergent property of sport systems and represents a complex systemic problem that will require whole-of-system interventions. The implications for this and the focus of future research are discussed.

Attitudes Toward and Susceptibility to Doping in Spanish Elite and National-Standard Track and Field Athletes: An Examination of the Sport Drug Control Model

The Sport Drug Control Model (SDCM) is likely to be the model which most explicitly represents the theoretical paradigm of the psychological study of the use of doping in sport. This model can be further developed through its analysis in different populations and cultures. The main aim of this study was to empirically test the SDCM while analyzing for the first time the intentions and attitudes toward doping in Spanish track and field athletes. A secondary aim was to assess the extent to which the variables in the model together predict attitude, susceptibility, and behavior toward the use of performance-enhancing substances. Participants were 281 Spanish elite and national-standard track and field athletes from whom 80.1% were 18-28 years old and 49.5% were females. Participants completed the SDCM questionnaire measuring morality, legitimacy, benefits appraisal, threat appraisal, self-efficacy to refrain from doping, reference groups' endorsement of doping methods/substances, use of legal supplements, availability and affordability of doping, attitudes toward doping, susceptibility to doping and, self-reported use of banned performance-enhancing substances or methods. Structural equation modeling supported a good fitness of the SDCM and confirmed that positive attitudes toward doping predicted high susceptibility to doping (β = 0.55, p < 0.001), which is in turn associated with the use of prohibited substances and methods (β = 0.12, p < 0.05). The factors that have most influence on attitudes toward doping are morality (β = 0.46, p < 0.001) and reference group opinion (β =0.62, p <0.001). Self-reported doping use was 9.6%. These findings confirm SDCM reproducibility and variability (as it accounts for several variables) in Spanish track and field competitive athletes. It is recommended to implement preventive programs which allow athletes to acquire a strong moral stance against doping and coaches to employ the tools required to instill and educate their athletes in rejecting these illegal practices that corrupt the integrity of competitive sport.

Feasibility randomised controlled trial examining the effects of the Anti-Doping Values in Coach Education (ADVICE) mobile application on doping knowledge and attitudes towards doping among grassroots coaches

Objectives

Sports coaches are influential in whether athletes dope, but receive very little antidoping education, particularly within entry-level coaching qualifications. We tested the feasibility of an antidoping intervention, delivered via a mobile application, which was designed to increase coaches’ knowledge of doping and to reduce favourable doping attitudes.

Methods

A two-arm randomised controlled trial, with grassroots coaches who coach young amateur athletes aged between 14 and 18 years of age, was conducted. The Anti-Doping Values in Coach Education (ADVICE) mobile application included modules on fair play, substances, nutritional supplements, rules and leadership. The primary outcome was the change in doping knowledge, 6 weeks after receiving the mobile application. The secondary outcome was changes in doping attitudes.

Results

Grassroots coaches (n=200; aged between 18 and 71 years, with between 1 and 42 years of coaching experience) from 29 different countries completed baseline assessments, and 85 completed follow-up assessments, and were included in mixed analysis of variance analyses. The intervention increased coaches’ knowledge about doping and also reduced favourable doping attitudes in the experimental arm.

Conclusion

The ADVICE mobile application is a feasible method for delivering and increasing grassroots coaches’ knowledge of banned substances and the potential side effects of doping. Mobile application-based resources could facilitate a much wider dissemination of antidoping education.

The Susceptibles, Chancers, Pragmatists, and Fair Players: An Examination of the Sport Drug Control Model for Adolescent Athletes, Cluster Effects, and Norm Values Among Adolescent Athletes

Although there are few high-profile cases of adolescent athletes being caught doping, up to a third of young athletes may dope. In order to generate a more accurate understanding of why adolescent athletes dope, it is important to validate models that help to explain this behavior. The aims of this study were 3-fold: firstly, to test the Sport Drug Control Model for Adolescent Athletes (SDCM-AA); secondly, to generate athlete profiles that would help quantify the proportion of athletes who are at risk of doping; and thirdly, to create norm values for the Adolescent Sport Doping Inventory (ASDI), which would allow national doping organizations, sporting organizations, and clubs to benchmark the scores of their athletes for key psycho-social variables linked to doping. A total of 2208 adolescent athletes from the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States completed the ASDI. The data presented an appropriate fit to the SDCM-AA model, in which 54% of the variance in susceptibility to doping was explained in the model, and 44.8% of attitudes toward doping was accounted for. Four distinct clusters of athletes emerged: the Susceptibles (i.e., identified with the benefits of doping, were willing to cheat, and viewed little threat), the Chancers (i.e., identified with the benefits of doping, scored high on willingness to cheat, and were highly influenced by their reference group, but had an average score for threat, self-esteem, and legitimacy), the Pragmatists (i.e., did not engage with any aspects of doping, but were more susceptible than the fair players), and Fair Players (i.e., high levels of sportspersonship, unwilling to cheat, and viewed doping as a threat). The revised SDCM-AA appears a valid model that helps explain the factors associated with doping attitudes and doping susceptibility. Adolescent athletes can be classified into one of four clusters, in relation to doping. Their cluster group could influence the content of the anti-doping education they receive.

The effects of the iPlayClean education programme on doping attitudes and susceptibility to use banned substances among high-level adolescent athletes from the UK: A cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background This study examined the effects of the iPlayClean anti-doping intervention on attitudes towards doping and susceptibility, and whether delivery mode affected the results. Methods A total of 1081 high-level UK athletes (14-18 years old, 904 males, 177 females) were cluster-randomised to the control (11 teams/organisations/schools, 314 athletes), face-to-face group presentation (8 teams/organisations/schools, 254 athletes), online (11 teams/organisations/schools, 251 athletes), or face-to-face presentation with online access (5 teams/organisations/schools, 262 athletes). Results Compared to the control group, all modes of the iPlayClean anti-doping education programme reduced favourable attitudes towards doping immediately after the intervention, which was sustained across all intervention groups 8 weeks later. All delivery modes impacted doping susceptibility immediately after the intervention, in comparison to the control group, but the effects were only sustained for the face-to-face presentation group. Conclusion Contrary to findings within previous anti-doping interventions, we have shown that doping attitudes can be changed and that the results can be sustained across all modes of delivery, 8 weeks later. Research is required to assess for how long these changes are sustained, and how often anti-doping education should be delivered to high-level athletes to reinforce clean play values.

Influences of perfectionism and motivational climate on attitudes towards doping among Korean national athletes: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND

The motives for elite athletes to dope are related primarily to maintaining and improving their physical performance. Especially, elite athletes training to compete in the Olympics may feel unique situational pressure, which may in turn induce powerful motivation for doping and predict doping behavior. This study aimed to investigate possible factors associated with attitudes towards doping in Korean national athletes who competed in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

METHODS

A total of 198 athletes (95 female, 103 male) completed the questionnaire, which covered demographic information, doping-related experiences, Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS), Perfectionism in Sports Scale (PSS; coach's criticism, concern over mistakes, and personal standards), and Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire-2 (PMCSQ-2; ego-involving and task-involving climates). Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to identify correlations among PEAS, PSS, and PMCSQ-2 scores, and stepwise multiple linear regression was performed to investigate possible factors significantly associated with attitudes towards doping.

RESULTS

The coach's criticism of PSS was slightly or weakly related to the concern over mistakes of PSS and the ego-involving climate of PMCSQ-2, respectively. And the concern over mistakes sub-scale of perfectionism was related to attitudes towards doping, but weakly.

CONCLUSIONS

Effective anti-doping policy should meet athletes' perfectionism, and more studies that identify other factors that influence athletes' doping attitudes are needed.

Children's First Experience of Taking Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids can Occur before Their 10th Birthday: A Systematic Review Identifying 9 Factors That Predicted Doping among Young People

Taking performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) can cause serious and irreversible health consequences, which can ultimately lead to premature death. Some young people may take PEDs without fully understanding the ramifications of their actions or based on the advice from others. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify the main factors that predicted doping among young people. The literature was systematically reviewed using search engines, manually searching specialist journals, and pearl growing. Fifty-two studies, which included 187,288 young people aged between 10 and 21 years of age, 883 parents of adolescent athletes, and 11 adult coaches, who were interviewed regarding young athletes, were included in this review. Nine factors predicted doping among young people: gender; age; sports participation; sport type; psychological variables; entourage; ethnicity; nutritional supplements; and health harming behaviors. In regards to psychological variables, 22 different constructs were associated with doping among young people. Some psychological constructs were negatively associated with doping (e.g., self-esteem, resisting social pressure, and perfectionist strivings), whereas other were positively associated with doping (e.g., suicide risk, anticipated regret, and aggression). Policy makers and National Anti-Doping Organizations could use these findings to help identify athletes who are more at risk of doping and then expose these individuals to anti-doping education. Based on the current findings, it also appears that education programs should commence at the onset of adolescence or even late childhood, due to the young age in which some individuals start doping.