“I Want It All, and I Want It Now”: Lifetime Prevalence and Reasons for Using and Abstaining from Controlled Performance and Appearance Enhancing Substances (PAES) among Young Exercisers and Amateur Athletes in Five European Countries

Abstract

Doping use in recreational sports is an emerging issue that has received limited attention so far in the psychological literature. The present study assessed the lifetime prevalence of controlled performance and appearance enhancing substances (PAES), and used behavioral reasoning theory to identify the reasons for using and for avoiding using controlled PAES in young exercisers across five European countries, in the context of the “SAFE YOU” Project. Participants were 800 young amateur athletes and exercisers (M = 21.56; SD = 2.69) from Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, and UK who completed an anonymous questionnaire that included measures of self-reported use of controlled PAES, as well as reasons for using and not using controlled PAES. The results of the descriptive analyses demonstrated that almost one out five exercisers in the sample had a previous experience with controlled PAES. Higher prevalence rates were found in Greece and Cyprus and lower in Italy. The most frequently reported reasons for using controlled PAES included achieving the desired results faster; pushing the self to the (physical) limits; and recovering faster after exercise/training. Furthermore, the most frequently reported reasons for not using controlled PAES involved worry about any possible adverse health effects; not feeling the need for using them; and wanting to see what can be achieved naturally without using any controlled PAES. The findings of the present study indicate that the use of controlled PAES is fast becoming a crisis in amateur sports and exercise settings and highlight the need for preventive action and concerted anti-doping education efforts.

The Implementation and Evaluation of a Media Literacy Intervention About PAES Use in Sport Science Students

“…tend to characterize both competitive and amateur or fitness sport settings (e.g. Lazuras et al, 2017;Sandvik et al, 2018) and to partly depend on users' intention to enhance their performance or physical appearance (i.e. PAES -Performance and Appearance Enhancement Substances).…”

“…The use of Performance and Appearance Enhancing Substances (PAES) that are clearly subject to legal sanctions and often labeled "controlled" 1 has steadily increased among young athletes and exercisers in recent times . A more recent European study of a large sample of young amateur athletes and exercisers has shown that nearly one out of five participants has had experience with controlled PAES in the past (Lazuras et al, 2017).…”

“…WADA and NADOs). In contrast, the legal and social sanctions associated with the use of controlled PAES among those practicing fitness and recreational sports are less clear, a fact that tends to induce greater acceptance in society (Lazuras et al, 2017).…”

Understanding the Paths to Appearance- and Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Bodybuilding

“…However, in many cases, APED use is not a real concern in bodybuilding; the prevalence of APED use among competitive bodybuilders is high, and doping is not perceived as a real moral issue. APEDs are no longer confined to competitive bodybuilders (Griffiths et al, 2017) as they were in the 1960s (Lazuras et al, 2017). Even the meanings associated with APEDs have changed over time.…”

Androgen Abuse among Recreational Athletes

“…Anabolic androgenic steroids are also often illegally sourced from pharmacies or synthesized in clandestine laboratories. 6 The amateur athletes who most often use anabolic steroids are runners, followed by bodybuilders, cyclists, and weightlifters. The use commonly begins around age 20, and a typical user has at least 1 year of experience training.…”