Qualitative evidence of a primary intervention point for elite athlete doping

Mazanov, Jason; Huybers, Twan; Connor, James

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2010.06.003

Cited by 51 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…This is consistent with a study of junior athletes who were seen to be vulnerable to doping due to the increased performance expectations associated with the transition to senior sport (Mazanov, Huybers & Connor, 2011). The issues were exacerbated among those who failed to make the transition despite substance use; for example, adolescent males abusing protein supplements to increase weight for a chance at professional rugby (Munro, 2013;Sygall, 2013).…”

Section: Connor (2009)supporting

confidence: 76%

Australian athlete support personnel lived experience of anti-doping

Mazanov

Hemphill

Connor

et al. 2015

Sport Management Review

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Athlete support personnel (ASP) implement drug control policies for sport, such as antidoping. Interviews with 39 ASP reveal how differences between policy and practice play out in their "lived experience" of anti-doping. While most ASP support the ideology underlying anti-doping at a "common sense" level (using popular drug and sporting discourses such as "drugs are bad" and sporting virtue), they are critical of anti-doping practice. Combined with no direct experience with doping, ASP saw doping as a rare event unlikely to emerge in practice. Most ASP took a laissez-faire approach to anti-doping, relying on managers to know what to do in the unlikely event of a doping incident. Despite broadly supporting the ideas of anti-doping, ASP raised concerns around implementation with regards to Athlete Whereabouts and recreational drug use. In response to hypothetical doping events, a number of ASP would seek to persuade the athlete to discontinue doping rather than meet mandatory reporting obligations. Part of this extended from conflicts between professional and antidoping obligations (e.g. mandatory reporting and patient confidentiality). ASP demonstrate anti-doping policies are in tension with a practice that systematically normalises substance based performance enhancement early in sporting careers. Anti-doping agencies need to do more to engage with ASP as the "front line" of drug management in sport, including resolving contradictions across policies and in practice.Keywords: anti-doping; athlete support personnel; qualitative; Australia IntroductionDespite evidence athlete support personnel (ASP) are influential actors in the doping and anti-doping milieu, there is little evidence of how ASP understand, interpret or experience their role. The World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) (WADA, 2009) establishes a framework designed to help ASP meet their obligations to support the aims of the anti-doping ideology.National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) develop policies designed to give effect to the WADC in local contexts. However, evidence suggests that there is a gap between anti-doping policies and the practice of anti-doping in sporting communities (cf Hanstad, Skille & Loland, 2010). In practice, evidence indicates anti-doping education policies fail to give sufficient knowledge about WADC obligations among sports physicians and coaches (e.g. Backhouse & McKenna, 2011. More broadly, an Australian survey of knowledge (awareness of rules), attitudes towards doping in sport, and ethical stance around anti-doping practice indicated ASP have a very different experience of anti-doping than might be expected under policies giving effect to the aims of the WADC (Mazanov, Backhouse, Connor, Hemphill & Quirk, 2013). This paper reports the second qualitative stage of a sequential, qualitative dominant mixed-methods project exploring ASP experience of anti-doping reported by Mazanov et al (2013) (see Section 1.2). More specifically, this qualitative interview study sought to explore and contextualise the relationship b...

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Section: Connor (2009)supporting

confidence: 76%

Australian athlete support personnel lived experience of anti-doping

Mazanov

Hemphill

Connor

et al. 2015

Sport Management Review

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“…Such normalised substance use has been observed elsewhere among athletes [66]. Functional users of SUM are typically not in contact with healthcare institutions as individuals, nor are they subject to repercussions as athletes if their consumption falls outside the purview of the anti-doping regulations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Is there a danger for myopia in anti-doping education? Comparative analysis of substance use and misuse in Olympic racket sports calls for a broader approach

Kondrič

Sekulić

Petróczi

et al. 2011

Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy

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BackgroundRacket sports are typically not associated with doping. Despite the common characteristics of being non-contact and mostly individual, racket sports differ in their physiological demands, which might be reflected in substance use and misuse (SUM). The aim of this study was to investigate SUM among Slovenian Olympic racket sport players in the context of educational, sociodemographic and sport-specific factors.MethodsElite athletes (N = 187; mean age = 22 ± 2.3; 64% male) representing one of the three racket sports, table tennis, badminton, and tennis, completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire on substance use habits. Athletes in this sample had participated in at least one of the two most recent competitions at the highest national level and had no significant difference in competitive achievement or status within their sport.ResultsA significant proportion of athletes (46% for both sexes) reported using nutritional supplements. Between 10% and 24% of the studied males would use doping if the practice would help them achieve better results in competition and if it had no negative health consequences; a further 5% to 10% indicated potential doping behaviour regardless of potential health hazards. Females were generally less oriented toward SUM than their male counterparts with no significant differences between sports, except for badminton players. Substances that have no direct effect on sport performance (if timed carefully to avoid detrimental effects) are more commonly consumed (20% binge drink at least once a week and 18% report using opioids), whereas athletes avoid substances that can impair and threaten athletic achievement by decreasing physical capacities (e.g. cigarettes), violating anti-doping codes or potentially transgressing substance control laws (e.g. opiates and cannabinoids). Regarding doping issues, athletes' trust in their coaches and physicians is low.ConclusionSUM in sports spreads beyond doping-prone sports and drugs that enhance athletic performance. Current anti-doping education, focusing exclusively on rules and fair play, creates an increasingly widening gap between sports and the athletes' lives outside of sports. To avoid myopia, anti-doping programmes should adopt a holistic approach to prevent substance use in sports for the sake of the athletes' health as much as for the integrity of sports.

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“…injury) or chronic (e.g. ageing) performance decrements (see Kirby, Moran, & Guerin, 2011;Mazanov, Huybers, & Connor, 2011) as periods during which athletes may be more likely to consider doping. As such, it has been suggested that such periods are appropriate for targeted interventions aimed at preventing doping.…”

Section: Sliding Scale Family and Friends And Routinisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral disengagement and associated processes in performance-enhancing drug use: a national qualitative investigation

Boardley

Grix

Dewar

2014

Journal of Sports Sciences

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This study investigated psychosocial processes associated with avoidance of health- and morality-based deterrents to performance-enhancing drug (PED) use. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 64 English male bodybuilders with experience of doping. Resultant data were content analysed deductively using definitions for the eight mechanisms of moral disengagement (MD; Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development: Theory research and applications (pp. 71-129). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.), and three further themes from Boardley and Grix (2013. Doping in bodybuilders: A qualitative investigation of facilitative psychosocial processes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health. Advance online publication, doi 10.1080/2159676X.2013.766809). These analyses evidenced six MD mechanisms, and all three of the themes from Boardley and Grix (2013. Doping in bodybuilders: A qualitative investigation of facilitative psychosocial processes. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health. Advance online publication). Subsequent frequency analyses revealed six of the eight MD mechanisms, and two of the three additional themes, were common across the sample. Overall, the findings suggest MD may help athletes circumvent health- and morality-based deterrents to doping, describe a process linking supplement and PED use and detail how some athletes may actively avoid social censure for doping by only discussing PED use with other PED users from within their training environment.

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Qualitative evidence of a primary intervention point for elite athlete doping

Cited by 51 publications

References 17 publications

Australian athlete support personnel lived experience of anti-doping

Australian athlete support personnel lived experience of anti-doping

Is there a danger for myopia in anti-doping education? Comparative analysis of substance use and misuse in Olympic racket sports calls for a broader approach

Moral disengagement and associated processes in performance-enhancing drug use: a national qualitative investigation

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