Psychological Factors Related to Drug Use in College Athletes

Abstract

figures, references, 69 titles.The purpose of the present investigation was to compare the psychological factors related to drug use by college athletes on seven drug categories. A questionnaire was given to male and female Division I college athletes asking them about their use of drugs. The frequency, intensity and duration of use/non-use was used to divide subjects into high and low/nonuser categories. Dependent measures included the Profile of Mood States, Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and questions assessing athlete stress. A multivariate analysis of variance(MANOVA) was conducted in a 2 x 2 (alcohol high/low, non-user x male/female) design to distinguish significant differences on the POMS and stress questions followed by univariate ANOVA's. A separate ANOVA was run on Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory. Results indicated that high alcohol users scored significantly higher on anger, fatigue and vigor than low/non-users. Significant differences were found between males and females on the pressure felt from coaches to perform well.

A systematic review of college student-athlete drinking: Prevalence rates, sport-related factors, and interventions

“…Results, however, indicated that sport-related coping motives accounted for unique variance in only alcohol-related problems-not consumption itself. In addition, results from a large-scale study on NCAA athletes revealed that only 0.6% of the sample reported using alcohol to deal with the stress of athletics (Green, Uryasz, Petr, & Bray, 2001), and other studies have shown low endorsement rates of copingrelated drinking motives (Bower & Martin, 1999;Evans, Weinberg, & Jackson, 1992). A recent study also showed no significant difference in reports of bdrinking to relax Q between college athletes and nonathletes (Wilson et al, 2004).…”

Investigating the Prevalence and Risk Factors of Depression Symptoms among NCAA Division I Collegiate Athletes

“…Freshman athletes are also found to experience unique stressors-such as the loss of star status experienced in high school and conflicts with new coaches and teammates-that potentially cause them to engage in poor coping techniques such as skipping class, drinking, or withdrawing from their team or sport altogether [13]. The potential psychological effect of this stress is further highlighted by the findings on alcohol use among athletes [17]. College athletes are often reported to engage in higher and more risky alcohol use than their non-athlete peers [18][19][20], and it was found that one of the most frequently described reasons for alcohol use among athletes was to alleviate the stress of college life [17].…”

“…The potential psychological effect of this stress is further highlighted by the findings on alcohol use among athletes [17]. College athletes are often reported to engage in higher and more risky alcohol use than their non-athlete peers [18][19][20], and it was found that one of the most frequently described reasons for alcohol use among athletes was to alleviate the stress of college life [17]. Due to the previous findings suggesting freshmen athletes experience unique stressors [13], this study will assess the impact of academic class on depression symptom severity.…”

“…While perfectionism is an incredibly complex topic with many different dimensions affecting athletes in both positive and negative ways [32], certain perfectionist tendencies-such as excessive worrying about mistakes-have been shown to be related to lower self-esteem and performance satisfaction in athletes [33]. When combined with the poor coping techniques often exhibited by college athletes [13,17], perfectionism has also been shown to increase vulnerability to depression following athletic failure [34].…”

Sexual Coercion Risk and Women’s Sport Participation

“…While some studies have shown that college female athletes use alcohol less than other student populations, others have found that female athletes may be at a higher risk for binge drinking due to a strong need for social approval (Evans, Weinberg, & Jackson, 1992;Ford, 2007;Prichard, Milligan, Elgin, Rush, & Shea, 2007;Waldron & Krane, 2005;Wilson, Pritchard, & Schaffer, 2004). For example, Wilson et al (2004) found that female athletes drank in lower quantities and to intoxication less often than female non-athletes, male athletes, and male nonathletes.…”