Abstract
male high school athletes and addresses both drug use for body building and unhealthy dieting, report significantly less ongoing and new use of diet pills, less new sexual activity, more seatbelt use, as well as better eating and training habits (Elliot DL et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158[11]: 1043-1049). Former participants in ATHENA who were surveyed 1 to 3 years later also report less use of cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol, effects that were not seen in the short term (Elliot DL et al. J Alcohol Drug Educ. 2008; 52[2]:73-92). Goldberg explained that for female athletes, body image and performance often go hand-in-hand; in addition to facing pressure to perform well, young women are pressured to fit certain body ideals. “For young women, steroids are body-shaping drugs,” said Goldberg. The programs’ success may be, in part, attributable to their emphasis on offering alternatives to drug use and helping student athletes build the social and life skills they need to make good choices and to resist peer pressure. Backhouse said that helping students build such skills are a key component of successful programs to prevent bullying and alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drug use among young people (http://www .wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document /backhouse_Prevention_through _Education_final_2009.pdf). Sheandher colleagues were commissioned to review such prevention programs by the World Anti-Doping Agency to identify characteristics of successful programs that might be applied to dopingprevention programs. Other successful prevention programs also target individuals during adolescence, before their attitudes become more established; tailor their programs to the target population; actively engage the participants; and reinforce the program over time, she noted. Goldberg emphasized the importance of engaging the students’ coaches and peers in ATLAS and ATHENA. “It’s a social influence not to use drugs because it would hurt the team,” he said.
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