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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Quantitative Psychology and Measurement
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1357566
This article is part of the Research Topic New Methodological, Intervention and Neuroscientific Perspectives in Sports Psychology-volume II View all 10 articles

Profile of gym-goers who do not use Performance-enhancement substances

Provisionally accepted
Ana S. Tavares Ana S. Tavares 1*Elisabete Carolino Elisabete Carolino 1Pedro Teques Pedro Teques 2Luis Calmeiro Luis Calmeiro 3Sidonio Serpa Sidonio Serpa 4
  • 1 Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa (ESTeSL), Lisboa, Portugal
  • 2 Polytechnic Institute of Maia, Maia, Porto, Portugal
  • 3 National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
  • 4 Center for Research in Sport, Physical Education, Exercise and Health, Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Currently the use of prohibited performance-enhancing substances (PES) in fitness and gym settings is a public health concern as adverse health consequences are emerging. Understanding the characteristics of gym-goers who do not use these substances could lead to an important complement to the ongoing research about risk factors for PES use. The aim of this study was to identify the profile of PES non-use in gym-goers. In total, 453 gym-goers (mean age = 35.64 years; SD = 13.08 -measure of central tendency location and measure of absolute dispersion, respectively) completed an online survey assessing sociodemographic factors, exercise characteristics, gym modalities, peers, social influence, attitudes, subjective norms, beliefs, intentions, and self-reported use of PES. Decision Trees showed that being a woman, training less frequently, not practicing bodybuilding and having a negative intention to consume PES were identified as characteristics of non-users of PES. These results may support evidence-based anti-doping interventions to prevent abusive use of PES in the fitness context.

    Keywords: Gym goers, Characteristic, Behavior intentions, Decision Trees, Doping, substance use

    Received: 19 Dec 2023; Accepted: 29 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tavares, Carolino, Teques, Calmeiro and Serpa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ana S. Tavares, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa (ESTeSL), Lisboa, Portugal

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.