Personality correlates of a drive for muscularity in young men /  / Caroline Davis, Kristina Karvinen, Donald R. McCreary. - (Personality and Individual Differences 39 (2005) 2 (July); 349-359)

• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2005.01.013

Abstract

The female drive for thinness [DT] and the male drive for muscularity [DM] reflect the pursuit of two culturally explicit, gender-specific, body shape ideals. While a large body of research has confirmed a set of personality vulnerability traits related to DT in women, little is known about the personality correlates of DM. We hypothesised that a similar psychological profile would characterize both. We assessed a sample of young men on measures of neuroticism, perfectionism, narcissism, and appearance and fitness orientation, and used multiple regression procedures to determine the utility of each in predicting DM. Our hypothesis was strongly supported; results indicated that all the traits except narcissism were significantly and simultaneously related to DM, together accounting for 40% of the variance. Given the strong links among DM, steroid use, and excessive weight training, we can infer that these psychological characteristics also increase the risk of potentially risky and unhealthy behaviours in young men as they do in young women.

Eigen Kracht mannenposter (Dutch title)

The True Strength poster for males promotes a small container of true strength that helps you to build muscle mass and power without side effects. It can even be used by whimps (being males who want to build a physique, but are afraid to really make an effort).

This poster for males is part of the True Strength (Eigen Kracht) campaign of the Dopingautoriteit. A campaign that warns gym users and bodybuilders for the health risks of doping use and offers healthy and effective alternatives (training, recovery, nutrition, nutritional supplements, mental techniques).

Eigen Kracht-pot (Dutch title)

The True Strength container shows the values (ingredients) to train clean like: pride, discipline, character, selfconfidence, health and satisfaction.

This container is part of the True Strength (Eigen Kracht) campaign of the Dopingautoriteit. A campaign that warns gym users and bodybuilders for the health risks of doping use and offers healthy and effective alternatives (training, recovery, nutrition, nutritional supplements, mental techniques).

Introduction and Purpose
Individuals with spinal cord injuries at or above the sixth thoracic vertebra level (T6 level) can spontaneously experience autonomic dysreflexia. Besides eliciting symptoms such as headache, nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision, it can also induce a significant increase in blood pressure, thereby placing the individual at an increased risk for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events. Athletes with spinal cord injuries can voluntarily induce autonomic dysreflexia prior to or during the event in order to enhance their performance. The nociceptive stimuli commonly used to induce this reflex are:

(i) over-distending the bladder,

(ii) sitting on sharp objects, and

(iii) use of tight leg straps.

This procedure, which is commonly referred to as ‘boosting’, is usually done one or two hours before the actual event for the reflex to be fully effective. It is postulated that the elevated blood pressure in the dysreflexic condition enhances the cardiovascular and hormonal responses, thereby improving performance. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) defines doping as any technique that improves performance either by ingesting an external substance or by a method which offers undue advantage. In 1994, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) deemed boosting to be illegal and banned its practice during competition because research had demonstrated that it was a method that significantly improved performance. Their primary concern was the health and safety of the athlete. Currently, there is no research that has systematically examined the incidence, knowledge and attitudes of competitive athletes pertaining to boosting.

The objectives of this research study were to:

(1) examine the incidence of boosting in competitive high level spinal cord injured athletes,
(2) evaluate their knowledge and beliefs with respect to the effects of boosting on sport performance and overall health, and
(3) document their attitudes towards boosting and other performance enhancement strategies in competitive sport.

Research Design
This research study was implemented in four phases. In Phase I, a comprehensive boosting questionnaire designed to evaluate the incidence, knowledge and beliefs, and attitudes towards boosting was developed and validated by the International Paralympic Committee Sport Science Committee (IPCSSC), in conjunction with experts in the field of questionnaire design. In Phase II, a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the questionnaire for content and readability in 15competitive spinal cord injured athletes. In Phase III, data were collected in three ways: (i) an online version of the questionnaire was posted on the IPC website so that athletes could complete this at their convenience; (ii) the questionnaire was sent to members of the International Network for the Advancement of Paralympic Sports through Science (INAPSS) for distribution to eligible athletes, and (iii) during the Paralympic Games in Beijing from 6th to 17th September 2008. In Phase IV, the data were statistically analyzed using the Fisher Exact test to obtain information pertaining to specific questions on the incidence, knowledge and beliefs, and attitudes toward boosting.

Participants
A total of 99 participants completed the questionnaire. Of these 84 were males, 11 were females, and four participants did not identify their gender. In both genders, majority of the participants were in the 34 to 39 year age group (31. 3%), followed by the 28 to 33 yr (23.3%), 16 to 21 yr (20.1%) and 40 to 45 yr (12.1%) age groups. The education level varied considerably amongst the participants. The younger participants had completed some high school education while many of the older ones had attained university undergraduate and post graduate degrees. The injury duration also varied considerably amongst participants and ranged from 1 year to 18 years. A large majority of the participants were involved in wheelchair rugby (54.2%), followed by wheelchair sprint events (10.4%), middle distance racing events and wheelchair basketball (9.4% each), marathon racing, long distance events and throwing events (6.3% each).

Awareness and Incidence of Boosting
Of the 99 participants who completed the survey, 54 (54.5%) had heard of boosting prior to reading about it in the questionnaire, while 39 (39.4%) had not heard of boosting previously. The remaining participants were either unsure (3 or 3%) or did not respond to this question (3 or 3%). There were a significantly greater number of males who had prior knowledge of boosting compared to females. The participants were specifically asked the question: “Have you ever intentionally induced autonomic dysreflexia to boost your performance in training or competition?” Of the 60 participants who responded, 10 (16.7%) responded affirmatively while 50 (83.3%) responded negatively. All the positive responses were obtained from the male participants, with the majority competing in wheelchair rugby (55.5%), followed by wheelchair marathon (22.2%) and long distance racing (22.2%). None of the participants involved in wheelchair basketball and throwing events used boosting to enhance performance in training or competition. Approximately two thirdsof those who boosted reported that they had never used it: (1) during regular training (64.7%), (2) while training to peak for competition (66%), (3) in national competitions (64%), and (4) in international competitions (62%). A small proportion (6% to 14%) of respondents used it during the two training phases or competitions identified above. Only one participant (2%) indicated that he used boosting all the time during national and international competitions to improve performance.

Knowledge and Beliefs about Boosting
Approximately 41% of the participants felt that boosting was more useful in some sports compared to others, while 15% indicated the opposite. The remaining 44% of the participants were unsure whether boosting was more useful in some sports compared to others. Majority of the participants reported that boosting was most useful in middle distance events (78.6%), long distance events (71.4%), marathon racing (64.3%) and wheelchair rugby (64.3%). This was followed by sprint racing events (57.1%), wheelchair basketball (32.1%), Nordic skiing (21.4%), alpine skiing (10.7%), field throwing (10.7%) and other events (3.6%). Majority of the participants indicated that boosting was most useful during competition (80.5%) when compared to the other phases such as during training (9.8%) or immediately prior to competition (7.3%). The participants identified the following variables that they felt benefited most from boosting during competition: increased arm strength and endurance, less arm stiffness, less difficulty breathing, improved circulation, less overall fatigue, increased aggression, and increased alertness. However, a small number of participants also reported increased anxiety and greater frustration as possible effects of boosting during competition. Most of the participants agreed that boosting was somewhat dangerous (48.9%) to health. However, 21.3% and 25.5% of the respondents also felt that boosting was dangerous or very dangerous to health respectively. Only a small proportion (4%) of the respondents said that boosting was not at all dangerous. With respect to the symptoms of boosting, most of the respondents identified headache (70.9%), excessive sweating (80.6%), and high blood pressure (83.3%) as the most frequent ones. Shivering (36.8%) and blurred vision (26%) were less frequently reported by the participants. The main source of knowledge regarding the symptoms of boosting was their personal experience (61.7%) and reports from other athletes (50%). The participants gained some information by reading about boosting (22.9%) and received only minimal information (2.1 %) from their coaches. When queried about the consequences of boosting, most of the subjects identified high blood pressure (86%), stroke/cerebral hemorrhage (59.6%), and death (44%) aspossible outcomes. Only a small proportion (16.1%) identified seizures as being a possible consequence of boosting.

Attitude towards Boosting
Majority of the participants indicated that boosting was “completely unacceptable” for improving training capacity (61.3%), maximizing performance in competition (64.5%), because of knowledge of other competitors were boosting (57.4%), or boosting itself (60.3 %). When queried whether “boosting should not be banned because it can happen unintentionally” their opinion was split. Approximately 25% of the participants found this unacceptable while 37% were in agreement with the statement. Similarly, the participants expressed opposing views in responding to the statement “boosting should not be banned because any athlete with T6 or higher spinal cord injury can decide to induce autonomic dysreflexia.” Approximately 50% of the participants indicated that they currently used other methods to improve performance in training and/or competition which had no associated health risks. Almost 100% of the participants reported that using banned drugs to improve training capacity and maximize performance was unacceptable. These participants also indicated that using banned drugs because their competitors were using them was unacceptable. In responding to the general question “whether doping was a concern in Paralympic sports,” 50% of the participants indicated that it was sometimes a concern. This suggests that the decision to boost or no to boost in or order to enhance performance during training and/or competition is an individual one. Generally speaking, the incidence, knowledge and beliefs, and attitude towards boosting were not influenced by:(1) age, (2) injury level, and (3) injury duration of the participants. However, there was a tendency for the incidence of boosting to be higher in participants with postgraduate degrees compared to those with some high school or post secondary education. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to: (1) the small sample size, particularly in the females, (2) participation primarily from athletes in English speaking countries, and (3) use of selfreport questionnaires.

Recommendations
Bearing in mind the study limitations, it is recommended that: (1) educational materials pertaining to boosting be developed in conventional and electronic media to educate the athletes, coaches and trainers about this banned doping method, (2) a concerted effort should be made to target geographical regions where the awareness of boosting is likely to be low and sports in which the likelihood of boosting is high, (3) the frequency of boosting tests at the Paralympic games and other IPC sanctioned events be increased considerably so that the trends in this method of coping can be systematically evaluated, and (4) further research be conducted on a larger number of male and female Paralympic athletes with high level spinal cord injuries in order to increase the generalizability of the study findings.

Attitudes, Behaviours, Knowledge and Education – Drugs in Sport: Past, Present and Future / Susan Backhouse, Jim McKenna, Simon Robinson, Andrew Atkin

Based upon the need identified by WADA, the review provides an extensive annotated bibliography of peer reviewed publications in the social sciences regarding (a) predictors and precipitating factors in doping; (b) attitudes and behaviours towards doping and (c) anti-doping education or prevention programs. The database created during this review should be maintained so that future research in this area can be centrally documented and recorded.

The Findings
One hundred and three articles met the inclusion criteria and were considered in this review. Of these, 69 articles considered the attitudes of various target groups, 18 studies sought to examine the precipitating factors and correlates of performance enhancing drug use and 16 articles presented the findings of education intervention studies or model development in relation to doping in sport.

Conclusion
The evidence presented in this review leads to a simple conclusion: the weak evidence base undermines strategic planning and limits the capacity to target appropriate and efficacious education programmes to abate doping in sport.

Recommendations
This review has highlighted a number of key priorities in the social science research field. For example, adopting a Behavioural Epidemiological Framework would direct research efforts. Employing a variety of research designs from the upper echelons of the evidence hierarchy would facilitate the examination of causality and developing psychometrically sound measurement tools would enhance the validity and reliability of findings. Finally, the collaborative networks between practitioner and researcher need to be established so that evidence based findings inform the strategic planning of interventions and enable effective monitoring and evaluation.

Introduction
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) promotes, coordinates and monitors the global fight against doping in sport. This review is the result of WADA’s identification of education and social science research as strategic priorities for developing evidence-based anti-doping education. To complete this commission we set out to identify evidence regarding the efficacy of prevention interventions across four social domains; bullying, alcohol, tobacco and social drug use. The main purpose of this review is to highlight the factors which have been determined, to date, as the most successful preventive approaches in these respective domains. Broad conclusions are drawn from the literature with a view to recommending ‘recipes of success’ which could be further refined and applied in the design of future anti-doping prevention programmes.

The Literature Review Methodology
The review process comprised two main stages. Stage one involved an examination and summation of tertiary and secondary level reviews (e.g., reviews of reviews metaanalyses, systematic reviews), published in the scientific literature or by government agencies between 2002 and November 2008. Stage two comprised the execution of a comprehensive search and review of primary studies based on the fact that the studies were (i) experimental or quasi-experimental, (ii) published from 2002 onward and (iii) not included (or excluded) in the reviews of stage one.

The Findings
Universal, school-based interventions are the most frequently studied prevention approach. This single setting offers the most systematic and efficient way of reaching the greatest number of young people each year. Although these interventions demonstrate immediate impact, their long-term effects are questionable. When school-based programmes are integrated into multi-level strategies involving school, family and community approaches, effectiveness is enhanced. However, community-based prevention alone appears to be ineffective in changing the behaviours considered. Based on the findings of research across the four domains, prevention programmes
should be:
- Targeted at young people and adolescents when attitudes and values are being formed.
- Tailored to fit the target population (e.g., risk factors, developmental).
- Interactive and emphasising of active participation (e.g., role-plays, discussions).
- Derived from social influence approaches and focused on developing core life skills (e.g., communication, decision-making, refusal skills) as knowledge dissemination alone is ineffective in changing behaviour.
- Monitored and delivered with high degrees of fidelity1, ensuring that programme implementation is as directed.
- Delivered by well trained individuals who, demonstrably, deliver the programme with high fidelity.
- Based on booster sessions delivered over a number of years. This reinforces and builds on intervention messages.

A number of questions still remain, even in those fields with a long history of research and evaluation. For example, intervention intensity appears to be an important determinant of intervention efficacy. However, it is unclear whether an ‘intense’ programme comprises (i) more sessions, or (ii) more content with fewer sessions. Similarly, the importance of training deliverers to ensure fidelity has been emphasised across the literature, but there is no consensus regarding who fits the role of ‘best’ deliverer.

Conclusion
This review has highlighted that, currently, there are no ‘magical ingredients’ to include in prevention programmes to ensure their effectiveness. However, there do seem to be some ‘recipes for success’ that should underpin any programme with primary prevention at its heart. Anti-doping education is a relatively young research field with few examples of best-practice. Therefore, anti-doping researchers, policy makers and practitioners are far from being able to rely on the level of evidence-based research that is currently available across the four domains we have considered in this review. It is also notable that even in these well established fields, more systematic research is needed to fully assess ideas across a variety of settings. Furthermore, researchers across each of these domains agree that little high quality information exists in developing countries in terms of prevention, evaluation and research. They also caution against assuming that research findings will readily transfer, and with equal impact, to prevent other undesirable/unhealthy behaviours.

On balance, this review has highlighted some of the lessons learned from research examining the prevention of bullying, alcohol, tobacco and social drug use. We hope the findings will assist active anti-doping educators in developing programmes from walled foundations rather than providing just bricks and mortar. The strategic goal of anti-doping education should be to develop an evidence-base that allows the ‘critical ingredients’ necessary for effective doping prevention education to be (i) discovered, (ii) applied and (iii) evaluated. In doing so, we will facilitate a long-term perspective which emphasises prevention, rather than detection, in the fight against doping in sport. Doping is a global issue and as such, requires ‘connected’ approaches, across countries and, most likely across the related organisations.

CAS 2004/A/593 Football Association of Wales (FAW) v. Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA)

• Football
• Doping (Bromantan)
• CAS jurisdiction
• Arbitrability of the dispute
• Complicity of the federation or the club

1. A decision, which effect is to permit one of the national football team concerned to compete in the last stages of Euro 2004 has obviously serious financial repercussions. Following a case-by-case approach and taking into account its effects, the disputed decision is predominantly of a pecuniary nature (as opposed to sporting nature) for both parties. According to art. 62 UEFA Statutes, CAS has jurisdiction to hear an appeal filed against a decision of a pecuniary nature.

2. “Implicated” is more than just being “involved”. This technique, applied to art. 12 UEFA DR, leads to the legitimate conclusion that “implicated association” means participation of an association in the voluntary or negligent use of a banned substance or method by a player being aware of his doing so.

3. When there is no evidence that a federation or a club cooperated intentionally or negligently in the use of the banned substance by the Player, the said federation or club cannot be assimilated to an “accomplice or abettor” of player under the terms of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations and consequently cannot be sanctioned.

In December 2003 the UEFA reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Russian football player Titov after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Bromantan.

Consequently the UEFA Control & Disciplinary Body decided on 22 January 2004 to impose:

• a 12 month period of ineligibility on the Athlete and a CHF 10’000.- fine.
• a fine of CHF 20’000.- on FC Spartak Moscow.

In January 2004 the Football Association of Wales (FAW) filed a formal protest at the continued inclusion of Russia in the Euro 2004 finals. Because of Tito's anti-doping rule violation the FAW contended that in accordance with the UEFA Rules the Football Union of Russia (FUR) should be excluded from participation in the Euro 2004 in Portugal and that Wales should be awarded their place in the tournament.

On 3 February 2004 the UEFA Control & Disciplinary Body decided to reject the complaint of the FAW for being unfounded. Thereupon on 1 April 2004 the UEFA Appeals Body ruled that the appeal of the FAW was rejected inasmuch as it was admissible and it confirmed the Control & Disciplinary Body’s decision of 3 February 2004.

Hereafter in April 2004 the FAW appealed the UEFA Appeals Body Decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The FAW requested the Panel for:

(1) a declaration that the Appealed Decision against is flawed by errors of law and is void and of no effect;

(2) a declaration that on the correct interpretation of the relevant UEFA rules and regulations, the FUR is implicated as an accomplice or abettor of Titov for having fielded a player who had a prohibited substance in his body, irrespective of the fact that the FUR was unaware when the matches in question were played that Titov had a prohibited substance in his body; and

(3) a declaration that on the correct interpretation of the relevant UEFA rules and regulations UEFA‟s disciplinary organs are accordingly empowered to impose on the FUR an appropriate sanction, and UFEA's disciplinary organs are obliged on the basis of the FAW's complaint to consider what sanction to impose within the powers conferred by the relevant rules and regulations.

Following assessment of the case the Panel determines that:

• The decision of the UEFA Appeals Body wasn't flawed by errors of law and was void and of no effect.
• The FUR was not implicated in any asserted doping violation by Titov.
• Without FUR's implication in any doping offence, there is no legal basis for applying a sanction on the FUR.

Therefore on 6 July 2004 the Court of Arbitration for Sport:

1.) Has jurisdiction to hear the appeal filed by the Football Association of Wales on 10 April 2004.

2.) Dismiss the appeal filed by the Football Association of Wales. (…)

Bain J.
Clin Interv Aging. 2007;2(4):567-76.

Testosterone is more than a "male sex hormone". It is an important contributor to the robust metabolic functioning of multiple bodily systems. The abuse of anabolic steroids by athletes over the years has been one of the major detractors from the investigation and treatment of clinical states that could be caused by or related to male hypogonadism. The unwarranted fear that testosterone therapy would induce prostate cancer has also deterred physicians form pursuing more aggressively the possibility of hypogonadism in symptomatic male patients. In addition to these two mythologies, many physicians believe that testosterone is bad for the male heart. The classical anabolic agents, 17-alkylated steroids, are, indeed, potentially harmful to the liver, to insulin action to lipid metabolism. These substances, however, are not testosterone, which has none of these adverse effects. The current evidence, in fact, strongly suggests that testosterone may be cardioprotective. There is virtually no evidence to implicate testosterone as a cause of prostate cancer. It may exacerbate an existing prostate cancer, although the evidence is flimsy, but it does not likely cause the cancer in the first place. Testosterone has stimulatory effects on bones, muscles, erythropoietin, libido, mood and cognition centres in the brain, penile erection. It is reduced in metabolic syndrome and diabetes and therapy with testosterone in these conditions may provide amelioration by lowering LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, glycated hemoglobin and insulin resistance. The best measure is bio-available testosterone which is the fraction of testosterone not bound to sex hormone binding globulin. Several forms of testosterone administration are available making compliance much less of an issue with testosterone replacement therapy.

Anabolic steroids and male infertility : a comprehensive review / Guilherme Leme de Souza, Jorge Hallak. - (BJU International Volume 108 (2011) 11 (December); p. 1860-1865).

• PMID: 21682835.
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10131.x

Abstract

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The negative impact of AAS abuse on male fertility is well known by urologists. The secondary hypogonadotropic hypogonadism is often highlighted when AAS and fertility are being discussed. On the other hand, the patterns of use, mechanisms of action and direct effects over the testicle are usually overseen. The present study reviews the vast formal and "underground" culture of AAS, as well as their overall implications. Specific considerations about their impact on the male reproductive system are made, with special attention to the recent data on direct damage to the testicle. To our knowledge this kind of overview is absolutely unique, offering a distinguished set of information to the day-by-day urologists. For several decades, testosterone and its synthetic derivatives have been used with anabolic and androgenic purposes. Initially, these substances were restricted to professional bodybuilders, becoming gradually more popular among recreational power athletes. Currently, as many as 3 million anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) users have been reported in the United States, and considering its increasing prevalence, it has become an issue of major concern. Infertility is defined as the failure to achieve a successful pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected intercourse, with male factor being present in up to 50% of all infertile couples. Several conditions may be related to male infertility. Substance abuse, including AAS, is commonly associated to transient or persistent impairment on male reproductive function, through different pathways. Herein, a brief overview on AAS, specially oriented to urologists, is offered. Steroids biochemistry, patterns of use, physiological and clinical issues are enlightened. A further review about fertility outcomes among male AAS abusers is also presented, including the classic reports on transient axial inhibition, and the more recent experimental reports on structural and genetic sperm damage.

The problems of oral contraceptives in dope control of anabolic steroids / Douwe de Boer, E. de Jong, R.A. Maes, J.M. van Rossum. - (Biomedical & Environmental Mass Spectrometry 17 (1988) 2 (August); p. 127-128)

• PMID: 3191251
• DOI: 10.1002/bms.1200170209

Abstract

Caution should be practiced with oral contraceptives in dope control of anabolic steroids. Research in the Netherlands has shown that there are problems in the area of dope control of anabolic steroids: 1) when the oral contraceptive norethisterone is introduced, it changes within the body to a small amount of 19-norandrosterone, the primary metabolite of the anabolic steroid 19-nortetosterone. As a result, this transformation makes it hard to detect the origin of 19-norandrosterone. The derivatives of the main metabolite of norethisterone and methenolone have similar retention times and mass fragments, making screening difficult. The main metabolite of norethisterone also interferes with methenolone, another anabolic steroid. However, the latter problem is a solvable one. The derivatisation process used to confirm the use of methenolone is described. More testing of urine samples after sporting events will be presented in a successive report. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry process for detecting and confirming metabolites is recommended by the Medical Commission of the International Committee.