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

Elena García-Grimau,Arturo Casado,Ricardo De La Vega,Rafael De Arce

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.679001

Elena García-Grimau, Arturo Casado + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.679001

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Abstract

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.

Highlights

Social science research in doping in sport attempts to understand why athletes dope and how they do it; it helps to improve educational and interventional anti-doping programs
The market factors availability and affordability could not be considered in the model due to a high percentage of “I do not know” responses
9.6% of the sample self-reported use of prohibited substances or method, from whom 3.2 and 6.4% of the sample self-reported the use of performanceenhancing substances (PES) and prohibited methods, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Social science research in doping in sport attempts to understand why athletes dope and how they do it; it helps to improve educational and interventional anti-doping programs. Understanding the psychology of doping remains a challenge for social researchers due to the complex nature of the different variables influencing doping behavior (Blank et al, 2016). Researchers in this field have explored through different theoretical models all the possible factors that influence intentions and attitudes toward doping behavior (Donovan et al, 2002; Strelan and Boeckmann, 2003; Petróczi and Aidman, 2008). The TPB is based on the principle that personal intentions to perform a certain behavior are the strongest predictor of that behavior These intentions are in turn determined by three other factors: attitudes, subjective norms, and the control of perceived behavior (Armitage and Conner, 2001). One of them is the Sport Drug Control Model (SDCM)

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