title: Young athletes' awareness and monitoring of anti-doping in daily life: Does motivation matter?
abstract: This study was a preliminarily investigation into the prevention of unintentional doping on the basis of self-determination theory (SDT). Specifically, we examined the relationship between athletes' motives for doping avoidance and their behavior when offered an unfamiliar food product. Participants were young Australian athletes (n = 410) that were offered a free lollipop prior to completing a questionnaire. It was noted whether participants refused to take or eat the lollipop and whether they read the ingredients of the lollipop. The questionnaire assessed autonomous and controlled forms of motivation, amotivation, doping intentions, and adherence regarding doping avoidance behaviors. The results showed that young athletes who adopted controlled reasons to avoid doping in sport (e.g., not getting caught) tended to report higher adherence to behaviors related to avoiding and monitoring banned substances, whereas those who adopted autonomous reasons (e.g., anti-doping being consistent with life goals) appeared to be more willing to read the ingredients of the provided food. The significant interaction effect between autonomous and controlled motivation indicated that autonomous motivation was more predictive to doping intention for athletes with low controlled motivation. It is concluded that SDT may help understand the motivational processes of the prevention of unintentional doping in sport.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: D K C
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Teaching and Research Unit in Physical Education and Sport, University of Teacher Education, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lentillon-Kaestner
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hardcastle
authors.affiliation: Sport and Recreation Management, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dimmock
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Keatley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hagger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D002182:Candy; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Doping avoidance; banned performance-enhancing substances; drug control in sport; substance abuse