Dietary Supplement Use and Doping Attitudes: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Doping Prevention
• Behavioral Psychology

Background:

• The incremental model of doping behavior (IMDB) suggests doping develops through habitual use of performance enhancers like dietary supplements.
• Investigated the relationship between dietary supplement use, beliefs, and doping attitudes among Norwegian athletes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between dietary supplement use and beliefs and doping attitudes in Norwegian sportspersons.
• To assess the applicability of the incremental model of doping behavior (IMDB) in this context.

Main Methods:

• Online questionnaire administered to 1441 Norwegian sportspersons (44% female, mean age 31.3 years).
• Measures included dietary supplement use and beliefs, performance enhancement attitude (PEAS), and doping likelihood vignette.
• Data analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multiple regression.

Main Results:

• 58% of participants used dietary supplements; beliefs about supplements correlated positively with doping attitudes (r=0.27 for PEAS, r=0.16 for vignette).
• Younger, male, non-competitive athletes who endorsed supplements showed higher likelihood of endorsing doping.
• Despite weak associations, Norwegian athletes generally expressed ambivalence towards supplements but opposition to doping.

Conclusions:

• Associations between dietary supplement use/beliefs and doping attitudes are weak but align with the IMDB.
• Interventions targeting beliefs about dietary supplements in young, male, non-competitive athletes could enhance anti-doping efforts.
• Group differences in doping likelihood were small, with overall opposition to doping practices.