Gender- and Sport-Specific Associations Between Religiousness and Doping Behavior in High-Level Team Sports

Abstract

Religiousness is known to be specifically associated with substance abuse, but there is an evident lack of studies investigating the association between religiousness and doping behavior as a specific type of substance abuse in athletes. This study aimed to provide evidence for possible gender- and sport-specific associations between religiousness and doping behavior among team-sport athletes of both genders. The participants were 886 athletes (21.9 ± 3.8 years of age; 352 females) involved in four sports: volleyball (n = 154; 78 females), handball (n = 206; 68 females), soccer (n = 316; 110 females) and basketball (n = 230; 96 females) from Croatia and Slovenia (all traditionally Roman Catholics). The data were collected using a previously validated structured questionnaire that examined sociodemographic, sport- and doping-related factors. In addition, religiousness was captured by the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith questionnaire (SCSRF). Gender-stratified simple logistic regressions were applied to determine associations between covariates and doping behavior (criterion). There was no significant difference in potential doping behavior between males and females (OR 1.06, 95 % CI 0.76-1.46), while females reported higher religiousness (SCSRF: 23.11 ± 3.23 and 25.46 ± 7.2 for males and females, respectively; t test = 1.82, p < 0.05). Younger female athletes and those with higher SCSRF score are found to be less prone to doping behavior. When models were adjusted for personal opinion about doping presence in sport and age, the SCSRF remained a significant predictor of potential doping behavior (OR 0.95, 95 % CI 0.91-0.99). For males, the belief that doping was present in sport was strongly associated with a higher likelihood of doping. Our results suggest that highly religious females involved in three of the studies sports (i.e., volleyball, handball and basketball) show a weaker tendency toward doping. Meanwhile, there is no evidence that religiousness influences doping behavior among male team-sport athletes. Therefore, sport-specific and gender-specific approach in studying possible relationships that exist between religiousness and different types of misusing substances in sport is warranted.

Identification of Factors Associated with Potential Doping Behavior in Sports: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in High-Level Competitive Swimmers

“…Importantly, such a confounding effect is hardly detectable, because it is mainly a consequence of (1) number of athletes from each sport included in observed sample, and (2) between-sport differences in observed characteristics. Finally, doping susceptibility is known to be different among sports which is clearly supported in regular WADA reports on positive analytical findings, but also in studies which compared doping susceptibility among sports [13,20,22,36]. Consequently, a sport-specific approach is becoming prevalent in studying factors associated to doping susceptibility [1,21,22,37,38,39].…”

“…Further, there is no consistency in reports about gender as a factor of influence on doping susceptibility. Notably, while some reports suggest that males are more prone to doping [20,21], higher doping susceptibility in males is not always supported, while some reports evidenced even higher risk for doping vulnerability in females than in males [22]. Meanwhile, studies are consistent with regard to association which exists between personal opinion about doping-presence in sport and doping susceptibility, with higher likelihood of doping behavior in athletes who are convinced that doping is present in their sport [20,21,23,24].…”

Análise da religiosidade no esporte: o olhar de atletas olímpicos brasileiros

“…Vários estudos têm mostrado que o fenômeno do doping também pode ter relação com aspectos religiosos (RODEK, SEKULIC, PASALIC, 2009;ZENIC, STIPIC, SEKULIC, 2013;MORENTE-SÁNCHEZ, ZABALA, 2013;ZVAN et al, 2016). Embora não faça parte do objetivo deste trabalho discutir o impacto da religiosidade no doping esportivo, é importante salientar que pesquisas vêm sendo realizadas nesse sentido.…”

“…Por exemplo, Zvan et al (2016), com uma amostra de 886 atletas de esportes coletivos (futebol, vôlei, handebol e basquete), mostraram que mulheres atletas religiosas apresentaram menor propensão para o doping em comparação com os homens. Já Rodek, Sekulic e Pasalic (2009), analisando a relação entre a religiosidade de halterofilistas e doping, mostraram que aspectos da religião (Islã) além de servirem como fatores de proteção podem também subestimar e mascarar comportamentos de doping.…”

“…Assim, a religiosidade que vem sendo vivenciada atualmente na sociedade pode ser demonstrada e manifestada em todas as esferas da vida social, inclusive no esporte em larga escala (STORCH et al, 2001;GARCIA, 2006;LEITE, 2008;JONA;OKOU, 2013;ZVAN et al, 2016).…”