The social-cognitive mechanisms regulating adolescents' use of doping substances

Abstract

In this study, we assessed the longitudinal effects of social-cognitive mechanisms on the self-reported use of doping substances and supplements among Italian high school students. In total, 1232 students completed questionnaires measuring various psychological factors hypothesized to influence students' intention to use substances. Three months later, 762 of the students completed the same questionnaires a second time and also reported their use of substances during the time between assessments. Overall, the percentages of students using doping substances (2.1%) or supplements (14.4%) were consistent with values reported in the literature. Analysis of the data showed that adolescents' intention to use doping substances increased with stronger attitudes about doping, stronger beliefs that significant others would approve of their use, a stronger conviction that doping use can be justified, and a lowered capacity to resist situational pressure or personal desires. In turn, stronger intentions and moral disengagement contributed to a greater use of doping substances during the previous 3 months. Doping use was also correlated significantly to supplementation. In conclusion, our results provide novel information about some of the psychological processes possibly regulating adolescents' use of doping substances and supplements. The results also highlight possible areas for future study and intervention, focusing on the prevention of adolescents' substance use.

The final frontier of anti-doping: A study of athletes who have committed doping violations

“…The process of moral disengagement has observed in a variety of sporting Final frontier: 8 transgressions (Boardley & Kavussanu, 2007;Corrion, Long, Smith, & d'Arripe-Longueville, 2009;Lucidi, Grano, Leone, Lombardo, & Pesce, 2004;Lucidi et al, 2008), although to our knowledge no peer reviewed study has attempted to examine moral disengagement in the context of studying athletes who have committed doping violations.…”

“…Additionally, the role of morality, more specifically, 'moral disengagement' was a prominent factor in the decision to dope, but most importantly, the decision to continue to dope. Several moral disengagement mechanisms, as identified by Lucidi et al (2008), emerged during the interviews: advantageous comparison, minimizing or ignoring the consequences, and displaced responsibility. These forms of disengagement served to justify transgressions (i.e., the use of banned substances).…”

“…Athletes resorted to forms of moral disengagement (Bandura, 1990;Lucidi et al, 2008) in order to justify doping, including the process of Final frontier: 24 'displaced responsibility'. This form of disengagement included blaming peers, support staff and even society.…”

“…For example, a surge of social science based research suggested that a shift towards prevention rather than detection might be the best strategy for eliminating drug use in sport (Lippi, Franchini, & Cesare, 2007;Lucidi et al, 2008). However, it should be noted that the focus appears to be shifting back towards a detection based focus, with 'coordinated investigations' conducted by anti-doping investigators and public bodies such as police officers, seen as the way forward (Moston, Engelberg, & Skinner, 2013;WADA, 2011).…”

Self-Regulatory Mechanisms of Doping Intentions in Elite Athletes: The Role of Self-Determined Motivation in Sport

“…The sports psychology literature indicates that doping intentions, with athletes considering the pros and cons of the behavior, have mainly been studied from the perspectives of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) [2][3][4][5] and self-determination theory (SDT) [3,4,6,7]. Other studies based on Bandura's [8][9][10] social cognitive theory have shown that affective and resistive self-regulatory efficacy are related directly and/or through moral disengagement to transgressive behaviors in sport [11].…”