Martín-Escudero, Pilar, Varela, Amai, Canales, Mercedes Galindo, Herrero, Helena, Fuertes, César Marca, Miguel-Tobal, Franciso, Engelberg, Terry, Moston, Stephen, and Fernandez, Christina (2014) Questionnaire-based study on knowledge and attitudes towards doping and social drugs in Spanish adolscent athletes and non-athletes. In: Abstracts of the IV Congreso Internacional Deporte, Dopaje y Sociedad. 66. p. 25. From: IV Congreso Internacional Deporte, Dopaje y Sociedad, 26 February - 1 March 2014, Madrid, Spain.

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Abstract

Background: Since prevention is the best strategy in the battle against doping, it is of vital importance to assess on one hand the knowledge and attitudes of potential users of banned substances and on the other hand the acquisition of such attitudes along their career. This study arises from the request of collaboration made by the Griffith University (Australia) in order to compare the results between the two countries. Objectives: To explore and evaluate the attitudes and knowledge of the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and recreational drugs among 12 to 17 years old in Spain and the influencing factors.

Methods: Cross-sectional study using self-administered questionnaire to non-athletes and athletes between 12 and 17, after signing the parental informed consent. The questionnaire is based on the 'Performance Enhancement Scale'. A descriptive and univariate analysis were performed considering statistical significance at p<0.05.

Results: 339 questionnaires (129 athletes and 210 non-athletes) were collected. 11.2% reported knowing athletes in their sport and age year using PEDs and 5% reported having been offered these substances. 12.3% stated using or having used sports supplements and 5.4% PEDs, with no significant differences between athletes and non-athletes (p>0.05). Athletes who expressed to use or have used PEDs or an intention to use them, were more likely to engage in some of the studied moral-disengagement mechanisms (p<0,05). 46.6% pointed out cycling as the sport in which doping substances were used more frequently. The percentage of doping, commonly thought by interviewees to happen in elite athletes, was 20% (IQR 10-50). Athlete respondents considered the use of PEDs to affect the reputation of elite athletes (significantly more than non-athletes respondents p=0.005).

Conclusions: According to the findings on knowledge and attitudes against doping and social drugs in adolescents, educational policies are needed at early stages of life in our country.

Research Statement

Research Background	There are very few cross-cultural comparative studies of young people's attitudes towards and knowledge of drug use in sport
Research Contribution	This study compares the attitudes and behaviours regarding banned substance and performance enhancement drug use amongst a sample of young (ages 12-17) athletes and non-athletes from Spain and Australia
Research Significance	This study contributes to knowledge in the field of performance enhancing and other substance use in young athletes and non-athletes and informs global anti-doping policy and education efforts.
Item ID:	39862
Item Type:	Conference Item (Abstract / Summary)
ISSN:	2340-7166
Keywords:	doping, drugs, teens, athletes, non athletes
Additional Information:	Conference title (English): IV International Congress Sport, Doping & Society Published as a Suplemento Especial de Materials para la Historia del deporte This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) International License which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a licence identical to this one.
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2015 23:35
FoR Codes:	17 PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES > 1701 Psychology > 170114 Sport and Exercise Psychology @ 70% 17 PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES > 1701 Psychology > 170113 Social and Community Psychology @ 20% 11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1199 Other Medical and Health Sciences > 119999 Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified @ 10%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9501 Arts and Leisure > 950102 Organised Sports @ 70% 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9501 Arts and Leisure > 950103 Recreation @ 30%
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