Predicting attitude towards performance enhancing substance use: A comprehensive test of the Sport Drug Control Model with elite Australian athletes

• Published in: Journal of science and medicine in sport Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 574 - 579
• Main Authors: Jalleh, Geoffrey, Donovan, Robert J, Jobling, Ian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2014; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Athletes - psychology; Australia; Cross-Sectional Studies; Decision making; Doping in sport; Doping in Sports - psychology; Drug testing; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Models, Theoretical; Morality; Performance-Enhancing Substances; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Rugby; Sports Medicine; Studies; Young Adult; Australia; Doping in sport; Performance-enhancing substances
• ISSN: 1440-2440; 1878-1861
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2013.10.249

Abstract Objectives This study presents a comprehensive examination of the Sport Drug Control Model via survey data of elite Australian athletes. Design A cross-sectional nationwide mail survey. Methods A mail survey of 1237 elite Australian athletes was conducted. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the model. Results Morality (personal moral stance on performance-enhancing substances use), reference group opinion (perceived moral stance of reference group on performance-enhancing substances use) and legitimacy (perceptions of the drug testing and appeals processes) evidenced significant relationships with attitude towards performance-enhancing substances use, which in turn was positively associated with doping behaviour. The model accounted for 81% and 13% of the variance in attitude towards performance-enhancing substances use and doping behaviour, respectively. Conclusions These findings validate the usefulness of the Sport Drug Control Model for understanding influences on performance-enhancing substances use. Nevertheless, there is a need to survey athletes representing a broader range of competition levels and cross-cultural research to test the model's applicability to other populations of athletes.