Team dynamics and doping in sport: A risk or a protective factor?

Summary

The study assesses the attitudes to doping through examining a cohort of elite athletes from Scotland. It identifies the difference between the athletes’ milieus as one of the potential predictors of risk, recognizing task- and ego-goals and mastery motivational climates as predictors of attitudes toward doping, and acknowledging that individual and team sports athletes have different levels of propensity to dope. It provides recommendations for practitioners, giving suggestions for future research and helping readjust strategies of educating athletes.

Methodology

This research follows a cross-sectional research design. The researchers conducted a mixed methods project, combining a questionnaire administered to one hundred and seventy-seven (177) athletes with focus groups that saw sixty-four (64) athletes participating. 

Results

The study found that the milieu in which the athletes are plays a significant role in deterring them from doping. The researchers underpinned that it is the individual sports in team events that have the lowest risk of doping, compared with individual- or team-only competitions. That is due to the fact that mastery-oriented climates and ego-orientation, both being more applicable to team sport athletes, increased their risk of doping. The study also accentuated the role of the anti-doping environments provided by the support of the institutions, their coaches, families, and peers, which also affect doping behaviour and can decrease the risk.

Significance for Clean Sport

The results of the study reassert the impact of individual and situational factors on doping among elite athletes. The findings identify the populations of athletes that are most at risk of doping and can help practitioners readjust their strategies given the difference in the level of risk between individual and team sports. The recommendations of the study provide constructive assessment of the pedagogical approaches to doping, reaffirming the need to refashion approaches that advocate for passive transfer of information, and supporting more research into inadvertent doping and the use of social media as means of educating athletes.

Related Publications

Predicting elite Scottish athletes’ attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate