Anti-Doping Strategies and Athlete Behavior
Summary
Safeguarding fairness and athlete health has spurred the adoption of comprehensive anti-doping strategies that integrate advanced analytical testing, intelligence-driven investigations and behaviour-centred education. Biological passports and targeted screening enhance detection of prohibited substances, while outreach programmes address athletes’ motivations, norms and moral reasoning. Research into athlete behaviour has identified key influences on doping decisions, including self-regulatory efficacy, goal orientation and social cognitive factors. The relationship between dietary supplement use and doping intentions highlights a critical nexus for intervention, as supplement users often exhibit higher self-reported doping prevalence. Effective policy frameworks now seek to align testing protocols with nuanced prevention efforts, tailoring education and support to athlete demographics and career stages. Such integrative approaches promise to strengthen harm-reduction and uphold the spirit of fair play in global sport.
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Anti-Doping Strategies and Athlete Behavior publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in anti-doping strategies and athlete behavior across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Doping: The use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances or methods to gain competitive advantage.
Prohibited List: The codified catalogue of substances and methods banned in sport by international regulatory bodies.
Social cognitive factors: Psychological constructs such as attitudes, norms and self-efficacy that influence behaviour related to doping.
Biological passport: A longitudinal profile of an athlete’s biological markers used to detect indirect signs of doping over time.
References
- Doping Prevalence among U.S. Elite Athletes Subject to Drug Testing under the World Anti-Doping Code. Sports Medicine - Open (2024).
- Are dietary supplement users more likely to dope than non-users?: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy (2023).
- Sport motivation and doping in adolescent athletes. PLOS ONE (2018).
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