The risk environment of anabolic–androgenic steroid users in the UK: Examining motivations, practices and accounts of use

Abstract

Examining social contexts of use and user beliefs and motivations is vital to understanding how 'risk' behaviours are experienced so that this, in turn, informs harm reduction strategies. This paper examines the ways in which use of steroids is socially situated and the implications of this for policy and practice.

Anabolic androgenic steroid abuse in the United Kingdom: An update

“…Anabolic androgenic steroid user education and administration regimes tend to develop through imparted knowledge and experiences of other users (Chandler & Mcveigh, ) via online discussion forums, user‐produced websites and in gyms. Users share a strong sense of community which fosters an intense support network to encourage each other towards body image or performance goals (Hanley Santos & Coomber, ). Members of the community can quickly learn and “optimise” complex nutritional, exercise, and anabolic androgenic steroids regimes (Hildebrandt et al, ; Figure ) as anabolic androgenic steroid use is not straightforward.…”

Health risk and health seeking behaviours among people who inject performance and image enhancing drugs who access needle syringe programs in Australia

“…Users are generally categorised according their primary motivation for use (e.g. ‘occupational users’ or ‘aesthetic users’) but these broad groups do not capture the specific risk profiles of different user groups. More recently, Christiansen et al .…”

Identifying a typology of men who use anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS)

“…Other efforts to distinguish distinct subpopulations of steroid users have adopted a qualitative approach and categorised individuals who use steroids according to primary motivation for use (Christiansen et al, 2016;Hakansson, Mickelsson, Wallin, & Berglund, 2012;Hanley Santos & Coomber, 2017;Kanayama & Pope, 2012). For example, research conducted in the United Kingdom during the 1990s (Korkia & Stimson, 1993;Lenehan, Bellis, & McVeigh, 1996) identified categories of users comprising 'competitive sports participants', 'occupational users' and 'aesthetic users' (and a potential fourth group of 'young or novice user') (Dawson, 2001).…”