The Susceptibles, Chancers, Pragmatists, and Fair Players: An Examination of the Sport Drug Control Model for Adolescent Athletes, Cluster Effects, and Norm Values Among Adolescent Athletes

Abstract

Although there are few high-profile cases of adolescent athletes being caught doping, up to a third of young athletes may dope. In order to generate a more accurate understanding of why adolescent athletes dope, it is important to validate models that help to explain this behavior. The aims of this study were 3-fold: firstly, to test the Sport Drug Control Model for Adolescent Athletes (SDCM-AA); secondly, to generate athlete profiles that would help quantify the proportion of athletes who are at risk of doping; and thirdly, to create norm values for the Adolescent Sport Doping Inventory (ASDI), which would allow national doping organizations, sporting organizations, and clubs to benchmark the scores of their athletes for key psycho-social variables linked to doping. A total of 2208 adolescent athletes from the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States completed the ASDI. The data presented an appropriate fit to the SDCM-AA model, in which 54% of the variance in susceptibility to doping was explained in the model, and 44.8% of attitudes toward doping was accounted for. Four distinct clusters of athletes emerged: the Susceptibles (i.e., identified with the benefits of doping, were willing to cheat, and viewed little threat), the Chancers (i.e., identified with the benefits of doping, scored high on willingness to cheat, and were highly influenced by their reference group, but had an average score for threat, self-esteem, and legitimacy), the Pragmatists (i.e., did not engage with any aspects of doping, but were more susceptible than the fair players), and Fair Players (i.e., high levels of sportspersonship, unwilling to cheat, and viewed doping as a threat). The revised SDCM-AA appears a valid model that helps explain the factors associated with doping attitudes and doping susceptibility. Adolescent athletes can be classified into one of four clusters, in relation to doping. Their cluster group could influence the content of the anti-doping education they receive.

The performance enhancement attitude scale (PEAS) reached ‘adulthood’: Lessons and recommendations from a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In ASDI doping attitude is assessed by four items,) which map on the PEAS items: item #1 about regulation ("Legalizing PEDs would benefit my sport"; "Making PEDs legal would improve sport") and item #2 capturing the perceived need ("In order to be successful in my sport, I need to take PEDs"; "You have to take PEDs to play at the highest level in sport"). Norms are recommended for the composite score, and thus doping attitude is not assessed as a separate construct (Nicholls et al, 2020).…”

Attitudes Toward and Susceptibility to Doping in Spanish Elite and National-Standard Track and Field Athletes: An Examination of the Sport Drug Control Model

“…Jalleh et al ( 2013 ) reported that morality, reference group opinion and legitimacy are significantly associated with doping attitudes. Nicholls et al ( 2020 ) developed an adaptation of the SDCM aimed at adolescent athletes and found that morality construct was the strongest predictor of attitudes toward doping in this population. The SDCM is likely to be the model that most explicitly represents the theoretical paradigm of the psychological study of the use of doping in sport (Kirby et al, 2016 ).…”

Feasibility randomised controlled trial examining the effects of the Anti-Doping Values in Coach Education (ADVICE) mobile application on doping knowledge and attitudes towards doping among grassroots coaches

“…Future research using the ADVICE mobile application could assess the impact of the intervention on constructs such as coaching behaviour, the psycho-social variables associated with doping behaviour (eg, doping attitudes, susceptibility and willingness to cheat), 43 among athletes, and doping prevalence among young athletes, to assess the full impact of this tool.…”