resulted in waves of Olympians acknowledging that PED use was commonplace in numerous sports (Maraniss). The International Olympic Committee introduced drug tests at the 1968 Winter Olympics, and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was created in 1999 to govern worldwide oversight of doping in sport
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Sada Reed and Jennifer L. Harker
Simon Outram and Bob Stewart
The potential for supplement use to result in doping infringements is likely to be of concern for anyone involved in sports nutrition. The available data indicates that between 40–70% of athletes use supplements, and that between 10–15% of supplements may contain prohibited substances. Such data indicates that there is a considerable risk of accidental or inadvertent doping through using supplements. Accordingly, this paper sets out to provide an overview of the currently available empirical evidence of accidental doping by supplement use. In carrying out this task, the authors refer to press releases and proxy measures associated with nutritional supplement use, as well as statistical data on supplement contamination rates and doping infractions. A number of different indications as to the percentage of doping cases that might be attributed to supplement use are presented, ranging from 6.4% to 8.8%. Such percentages are not comparable; instead they are provided as indications as to how difficult it is to ascertain or estimate the scale of this problem. Although some forms of estimation can be made, it is suggested that it is currently not possible to quantify the scale of the problem. By way of conclusion, it is argued that antidoping regulators may wish to review current data gathering and information provision systems so that the problem of inadvertent doping can be more directly assessed as a factor in sports doping overall.
Anna Baylis, David Cameron-Smith, and Louise M. Burke
Many athletes report using a wide range of special sports foods and supplements. In the present study of 77 elite Australian swimmers, 99% of those surveyed reported the use of these special preparations, with 94% of swimmers reporting the use of non-food supplements. The most popular dietary supplements were vitamin or mineral supplements (used by 94% of the group), herbal preparations (61%), and creatine (31%). Eighty-seven percent of swimmers reported using a sports drink or other energy-providing sports food. In total, 207 different products were reported in this survey. Sports supplements, particularly supplements presented as pills or other non-food form, are poorly regulated in most countries, with little assurance of quality control. The risk of an inadvertent “positive doping test” through the use of sports supplements or sports foods is a small but real problem facing athletes who compete in events governed by anti-doping rules. The elite swimmers in this survey reported that information about the “doping safety” of supplements was important and should be funded by supplement manufacturers. Although it is challenging to provide such information, we suggest a model to provide an accredited testing program suitable for the Australian situation, with targeted athlete education about the “sports safety” of sports supplements and foods.
Yves Chantal and Iouri Bernache-Assollant
The authors demonstrate in three experiments (N = 241) that yellow impacts on social perceptions when associated with competitive cycling. In Experiment 1, the image of a syringe evocated competitive cycling and doping more strongly when presented on yellow as compared with gray. In Experiment 2, a performance improvement scenario yielded more discredit of a depicted racer and higher suspicions of doping when ending on a yellow frame, as opposed to a gray one. In Experiment 3, the image of a racer wearing a yellow jersey (instead of a gray or a white one) yielded the lowest scores on measures of suitability as a role model and attractiveness of sport participation. Moreover, no significant differences emerged for gender, thereby suggesting equivalent effects for female and male participants. Finally, the authors discuss conceptual and practical implications as well as limitations before proposing a number of avenues for future research.
Javier Horcajo and Andrew Luttrell
This experiment analyzed whether attitudes toward the legalization of several doping behaviors would resist change and predict behavioral intentions when they were initially formed through thoughtful (i.e., high elaboration) versus nonthoughtful (i.e., low elaboration) processes. Participants were randomly assigned first to a persuasive message either against or in favor of the legalization, which they read with relatively high or low degrees of deliberative thinking. Attitudes and intentions regarding legalization were assessed following that message. Next, each participant received a second message that was opposed to the first one, serving as an attack against the attitude that participants had just formed. Finally, attitudes were again assessed. As hypothesized, participants showed greater attitude-consistent intentions when they formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) consideration of the first message. Moreover, the second message resulted in greater resistance to attitude change when participants formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) processes.
Nikos Ntoumanis, Vassilis Barkoukis, Daniel F. Gucciardi, and Derwin King Chung Chan
A recent meta-analysis of the psychological literature on doping ( Ntoumanis, Ng, Barkoukis, & Backhouse, 2014 ) showed that researchers have focused primarily on the role of personal variables (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, and perfectionism) in predicting doping intentions and doping use. The
Laurie B. Patterson, Susan H. Backhouse, and Sergio Lara-Bercial
The importance of education in the prevention of doping behaviours has been emphasised both by research (e.g., Backhouse, Patterson, & McKenna, 2012 ) and policy (e.g., the World Anti-Doping Code [WADC], 2015 ). Moreover, the global organisation responsible for coordinating anti-doping efforts
Matthias Kamber, Norbert Baume, Martial Saugy, and Laurent Rivier
We report the findings of the analysis of 75 different nutritional supplements bought through the internet. Seven products (all from the class of prohormones) contained other hormone substances than indicated on the labels, and two further products contained ephedrine and caffeine without a clear indication on the labels.
Ken Hodge, Elaine A. Hargreaves, David Gerrard, and Chris Lonsdale
We examined whether constructs outlined in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002), namely, autonomy-supportive and controlling motivational climates and autonomous and controlled motivation, were related to attitudes toward performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in sport and drug-taking susceptibility. We also investigated moral disengagement as a potential mediator. We surveyed a sample of 224 competitive athletes (59% female; M age = 20.3 years; M = 10.2 years of experience participating in their sport), including 81 elite athletes. Using structural equation modeling analyses, our hypothesis proposing positive relationships with controlling climates, controlled motivation, and PEDs attitudes and susceptibility was largely supported, whereas our hypothesis proposing negative relationships among autonomous climate, autonomous motivation, and PEDs attitudes and susceptibility was not supported. Moral disengagement was a strong predictor of positive attitudes toward PEDs, which, in turn, was a strong predictor of PEDs susceptibility. These findings are discussed from both motivational and moral disengagement viewpoints.
Nicholas Stanger and Susan H. Backhouse
moral issue is doping. Doping can reflect an antisocial act, particularly if undertaken intentionally, as it can provide an unfair and illegitimate advantage over others ( Kaye & Boardley, 2012 ). Under the World Anti-Doping Code ( World Anti-Doping Agency, 2015 ), it is each athlete’s personal
