Attitudes and behaviors with regards to androgenic anabolic steroids among male adolescents in a county of Sweden.
This study investigates attitudes toward androgenic anabolic steroids among male adolescents who have used anabolics compared with those who have not. A cross-sectional survey was performed in the year 2000 in all secondary schools in the county of Halland on the west coast of Sweden. An anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire was distributed to all classes with 14-, 16-, and 18-year-old male adolescents. The response rate was 92.7% (n=4049). Those who admitted having used androgenic anabolic steroids differed in several ways from those who had not. Fewer believed androgenic anabolic steroids to be harmful (OR=0.15, 95% CI 0.08-0.30) and more believed that girls preferred boys with large muscles (OR=6.1, 95% CI 3.4-11.0). They trained more often at gyms (OR=5.6, 95% CI 3.0-10.6), drank more alcohol (OR=4.2, 95% CI 2.0-9.1), and had used narcotic drugs more often (OR=15.3, 95% CI 8.5-27.5) than the other male adolescents. More immigrants than native-born adolescents had used anabolics (OR=4.2, 95% CI 2.2-7.9). Attitudes toward anabolics differ between users and nonusers. These aspects may be beneficial to focus on as one part of a more complex intervention program in order to change these attitudes and decrease the misuse of androgenic anabolic steroids.
Department of Primary Health Care, Varberg, Sweden. s.nilsson@neptunuskliniken.nu
Sverker
S
Nilsson
Fredrik
F
Spak
Bertil
B
Marklund
Amir
A
Baigi
Peter
P
Allebeck
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015444:Exercise; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D013256:Steroids / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders; D013548:Sweden
D045930:Anabolic Agents; D013256:Steroids