User:TiffanyLiu12/sandbox

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Social pressures

Social pressure is one of the factors that leads to doping in sport.[1]The media and society work together to construct a view of what masculinity and femininity should look like. Adolescent athletes are constantly influenced by what they see on the media, and some go to extreme measures to achieve the ideal image since society channels Judith Butler’s definition of gender as a performative act.[2] Examples of social pressures were given in a study done on an online bodybuilding community where bodybuilders doped because they felt like it was a rite of passage to be accepted into the community, and to feel validated.[1] Both men and women are being materialized in the context of doping in sport; in an interview involving 140 men, it was concluded that “bodily practices are essential for masculine identity," and it was determined that the media highly publicizes female athletes who were strong, and thin. [2] This leads to the issue of the consumption of performance enhancement drugs to achieve muscular or thin figures, and the assumption that the opponents are also taking performance enhancing drugs, deeming it as an acceptable behavior to conform to.[3][4][5] In addition, society's embracement of the “winning is everything” spirit leads many athletes to participate in doping, hoping that they will not be caught. [6]

Physical pressures

Elite athletes have financial competitive motivations that cause them to dope and these motivations differ from that of recreational athletes.[1] The common theme among these motivations is the pressure to physically perform. In a study of 101 individuals, 86% responded that their use of performance enhancement drugs were influenced by the potential athletic success, 74% by the economic aspect, and 30% by self-confidence and social recognition related reasons.[7] In another study of 40 people, it was concluded that athletes used performance enhancement drugs for for healing purposes so that they were an able competitor for the economic rewards involved with elite sports.[8] Physical pressures often overlap with social pressures to have a certain body build. This is the case with muscle dysmorphia, where an athlete wants a more muscular physique for functionality and self- image purposes. [2]The most popular motive for for athletes to take supplements is to prevent any nutrient deficiencies and to strengthen the immune system.[4]These factors all focus on improving the body for performance.

Psychological Motivations

Psychology is another factor to take into consideration in doping in sport. It becomes a behavioral issue when the athlete acknowledges the health risks associated with doping, yet participates in it anyways.[9] This has to do with the psychological thinking that the drug will make one feel invincible.[6] The individuals are very egotistic in their way of thinking and their motivation is dependent on the performance enhancement drug since they believe that it delivers the results.[3] On a study on health psychology, Quirk points out three different psychological aspects that lead one to dope: social cognition, stress and strain, and addiction.[9] The social and physically pressures can alter an athlete’s way of thinking, leading them to believe that they must take performance enhancement drugs since everyone else is doing it, known as “the doping dilemma.”[6]

Test methods

Urine test

Under established doping control protocols, the athlete will be asked to provide a urine sample, which will be divided into two, each portion to be preserved within sealed containers bearing the same unique identifying number and designation respectively as A- and B-samples. An athlete whose A-sample has tested positive of a prohibited substance is requested an analysis of his or her B-sample after a confirmation test on sample A that delivered the same results. If the B-sample test results match the A-sample results, then the athlete is considered to have a positive test, otherwise, the test results are negative.[10]This confirmation process ensures the safety of the individual.[11]

Blood test

- internal link to blood doping

The blood test detects illegal performance enhancement drugs through the measurement of indicators that change with the use of recombinant human erythropoietin[10]:

  1. Hematocrit
  2. Reticulocytes
  3. Level of Iron

Gas chromatography-combustion-IRMS

The gas chromatography-combustion-IRMS is a way to detect any variations in the isotopic composition of an organic compound from the standard. This test is used to detect whether or not synthetic testosterone was consumed, leading to an increased abnormal testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) level. [10]

Assumptions:[10]

  1. 98.9% of the carbon atoms in nature are 12C
  2. 1.1% being 13C

The lower the 13C/12C ratio, the more likely that synthetic testosterone was used.[12]

Athlete Biological Passport

The athlete biological passport is a program that tracks the location an athlete to combat doping in sports.[13] This means that the athlete can be monitored and drug tested wherever they are and this data can be compared to the history of their doping test results. [14] There is an ongoing discussion about how this measure can be seen as a violation of an individual's privacy.[14]


  1. ^ a b c Hutchinson, Brendan, Stephen Moston, and Terry Engelberg.  “Social validation: a motivational theory of doping in an online bodybuilding community.” Sport in Society, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 260-282, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2015.1096245
  2. ^ a b c Thualagant Nicole. “The conceptualization of fitness doping and its limitations.” Sport in Society, vol.15, no. 3, pp. 409-419, DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2012.653209   
  3. ^ a b Ntoumanis, Nikos, et al. “Personal and Psychosocial Predictors of Doping Use in Physical Activity Settings: A Meta-Analysis.” Sports Medicine., vol. 44, no. 11, Adis International, Nov. 2014, pp. 1603–24, doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0240-4
  4. ^ a b Morente-Sánchez, Jaime, and Mikel Zabala. "Doping in sport: a review of elite athletes’ attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge." Sports Medicine 43.6 (2013): 395-411.
  5. ^ Petro´czi A, Mazanov J, Nepusz T, et al. Comfort in big numbers: does over-estimation of doping prevalence in others indicate selfinvolvement? J Occup Med Toxicol. 2008;5:3–19.
  6. ^ a b c Ehrnborg, Christer, and Rosén, Thord. “The Psychology Behind Doping in Sport.” Growth Hormone & IGF Research : Official Journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society., vol. 19, no. 4, Churchill Livingstone, pp. 285–87, doi:10.1016/j.ghir.2009.04.003.
  7. ^ Striegel H, Vollkommer G, Dickhuth HH. Combating drug use in competitive sports: an analysis from the athletes’ perspective. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2002;42(3):354–9
  8. ^ Bloodworth AJ, McNamee M. Clean Olympians? Doping and anti-doping: the views of talented young British athletes. Int J Drug Policy. 2010;21(4):276–82.
  9. ^ a b Quirk, Frances H. “Health psychology and drugs in sport.” Sport in Society, vol. 12, no. 3, pp 375-393, DOI:10.1080/17430430802673726
  10. ^ a b c d Green, Gary A. “Doping Control for the Team Physician: A Review of Drug Testing Procedures in Sport.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 34, no. 10, Oct. 2006, pp. 1690–1698, doi:10.1177/0363546506293022.
  11. ^ WADA Clarifies B-Sample Procedure". WADA.com. 22 November 2006. Archived from the original on 6 January 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  12. ^ Shehzad Basaria; Androgen Abuse in Athletes: Detection and Consequences, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 95, Issue 4, 1 April 2010, Pages 1533–1543, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2009-1579
  13. ^ Sottas, Pierre-Edouard, et al. "The athlete biological passport." Clinical chemistry 57.7 (2011): 969-976.
  14. ^ a b Willick, Stuart E, et al. “The Anti-Doping Movement.” PM & R : the Journal of Injury, Function, and Rehabilitation, vol. 8, no. 3 Suppl, Mar. 2016, pp. S125–32, doi:10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.12.001.
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