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Urine doping controls have become a regular part of athletes’ lives, and approximately one half of all athletes suffer at least once from urination difficulties during these tests. Previous studies could not satisfactorily explain why athletes are affected. This paper examines the relation between urination difficulties during doping controls and psychological reactance. It is assumed that psychological reactance is positively correlated to urination difficulties. The results are based on a study involving 187 German-speaking athletes participating in elite sports at the national team level. In addition to demographic data and information about doping controls, the Psychogenic Urine Retention during Doping Controls Scale (PURDS) and Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS) were used. The results do not confirm our hypothesis and indicate that reactance correlates negatively rather than positively to urination difficulties during doping controls. The results are surprising as they suggest that athletes who show low oppositional potential toward doping rules are most strongly affected. Suggestions for interventions are given.

In November 2010, the US media reported that basketball player Diana Taurasi tested positive for a banned substance while playing in Turkey. In this study, we explore the media coverage of Taurasi’s positive drug test from a Deleuzian perspective. We consider the media coverage as an assemblage (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987; Malins, 2004) to analyze how Taurasi’s drug using body is articulated with the elite female sporting body in the coverage of her doping incident (Markula, 2004; Wise, 2011). Our analysis demonstrates that Taurasi’s position as a professional basketball player in the US dominated the discussion to legitimize her exoneration of banned substance use. In addition, Turkey, its “amateur” sport and poor drug control procedure, was located to the periphery to normalize a certain type of professionalism, doping control, and body as the desirable elements of sporting practice.

Drug abuse in competitive sport continues to be pervasive. Numerous explanations have been given for this and the reasons range from performance enhancement (anabolic steroids) to relieving stress and boredom (so-called recreational drugs). Drug testing, strict policies and enforcement, and educational programs have continued to be the main responses to the problem. However, relatively little attention has been given to preventive rather than punitive and curative strategies, particularly with respect to the coach’s input. This article offers several cognitive and behavioral approaches for coaches and sport psychology consultants in dealing with drug abuse among athletes. The recommendations are based on personal interactions with hundreds of intercollegiate athletes conducted over a 6-year period and from the extant professional literature.

While a considerable amount of work has centered on the doping problem within sport scholarship, little extended attention has been given to drug testing as a surveillance system in itself. The paper draws from Haggerty and Ericson’s (2000) surveillant assemblage model to highlight the increasing convergence of once discrete surveillance systems now evident in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) recent policy changes. It outlines the unique contribution that Deleuzian assemblage theory offers doping and sport scholarship. Assemblage theory opens up a line of research to study how surveillance is produced through the continuous monitoring of information across multiple interacting control systems. The article draws from WADA policy documents to suggest that the changing dynamics of transparency within sport increasingly place all athletes under more intense and nuanced scrutiny for any signs of suspicious activity.

The nutritional status of 11 female and 13 male elite bodybuilders at the first drug-tested USA Championship was examined through food records kept by subjects. Diets were repetitive and monotonous, and average daily energy and protein contents were relatively similar for men and women. Percent calories from protein, fat, and carbohydrate were 39%, 12%, and 48% for females, and 40%, 11%, and 49% for males, respectively. Females consumed 0% vitamin D, 52% calcium, 76% zinc (as percents of RDA) and below the Estimated Safe and Adequate Dietary Allowance amounts for copper and chromium. Males consumed 46% of vitamin D RDA. Although dietary magnesium intakes were above the RDA, serum magnesium levels in females were below reference values, which should be investigated. Serum zinc levels were high in men and women. Eighty-one percent of females reported recurrent contest-related amenorrhea for 2 ± 1 months precontest. Dietary intakes of men were adequate but the restrictive intakes of women may place them at risk for calcium, copper, and chromium deficiencies.

Substance abuse by the collegiate athlete has become a major concern. Drug testing programs are viewed as one method of combatting this problem; however, more emphasis should be placed upon developing effective drug prevention programs. The current study addresses this need by (a) designing a multifocused prevention program specifically for student-athletes based on the previous literature, (b) evaluating its overall effectiveness as well as that of its individual components, and (c) identifying factors associated with preintervention usage patterns of student-athletes for the purpose of guiding future program development efforts. Although 110 student-athletes indicated a willingness to participate in the study, only 58 completed the assessment packet. These 58 were randomly assigned to intervention and control conditions. Few differences were found between the treatment and control groups. Perhaps the most important finding was that social-environmental factors and pro-usage attitudes were related to previous patterns of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use prior to the student-athlete’s arrival at college. Results are discussed in terms of their impact upon future program development and evaluation.

In recent years drug abuse by college athletes has received greater attention. Because of the recognition of the growing problem of drug use in athletics, the new NCAA drug testing policy, and recent deaths of elite athletes, the sport psychologist should be prepared to deal with this issue. In many college settings the sport psychologist may be expected to provide support with counseling or participate in the development of a drug abuse prevention program for student athletes. Therefore sport psychologists need to closely examine the factors that may predispose athletes toward using drugs, understand the role of prevention, and develop a thorough knowledge of positive, viable alternatives to drugs. This article addresses five important issues that relate to drug abuse in college athletics: (a) why athletes are at risk, (b) athletic leadership and its relationship to substance abuse, (c) the role of the sport psychologist, (d) issues related to the effectiveness of drug education for athletes, and (e) recommendations for athlete drug education programs.