Social Psychology of Doping in Sport: A Literature Review
Prof Susan Backhouse Institute of Sport, Physical Activity & Leisure
Backhouse, McKenna, Atkins & Robinson (2007)
Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs
Risk and protective factors
Models and theories Education/intervention programs
Review Focus
103 peer reviewed papers
“The evidence base undermines strategic planning and limits the
capacity to target appropriate and efficacious education programmes
to abate doping in sport”
years on
98%
63 records identified through
handsearching
15173 records identified through
database searching
9687 records after duplicates removed
9687 screened by title
419 screened by abstract
257 full-text articles assessed for
eligibility
204 records included
53 records excluded
162 records excluded
9268 records excluded
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
No.
of p
ublic
atio
ns
Year
Publication growth
27.2
6.06
Method expansion
Quantitative - Questionnaire
Quantitative – experimental
Qualitative - interviews/focus
groups
Mixed methods
Other
Behaviour Intention
Attitude
Subjective norm
Perceived behavioural
control
(Ajzen, 1985; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Lazarus et al. 2010)
Self-regulatory efficacy
Personal morality/sportspers
onship
Drive for Muscularity/
Thinness
Supplement use
Motivation profiles
Anticipated regret
Willingness
Susceptibility
Doping avoidance
Situational temptation
Intentions Behaviour
Doping is a
complex behavior
Sample
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Elite Competitive Adolescents Athletesupport
personnel
Gym users General public
No.
of s
tudi
es
“Athlete Support
Personnel”
Coach / trainer
Manager
Agent
Team staff / official
Medical/paramedical personnel
Parent
Any other person working with, treating or assisting an
Athlete participating in
or preparing for sport
N ~3,893 7
1
3
9 mixed samples
✓ /x ✓
Assessing the true incidence of drug use in sport is problematic…
…athletes, support personnel and general public believe that doping is highly prevalent
7%
Michie, van Stralen & West. Implementation Science 2011, 6:42
Quantity and quality of studies
has increased
Absence of evidence limits
prevention planning
Methodological diversity
Programmes of research
Education/Interventions
Athlete support personnel
Cross-cultural
Global landscape
Clearer understanding of doping behaviour
emerging
Periods of instability
Integrated models
Threats to legitimacy
@susanbackhouse
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Carnegie Clean Sport Research Team