An evaluation of UK Athletics’ Clean Sport Programme in preventing doping in junior elite athletes

The aim of this study was to evaluate UK Athletics’ Clean Sport programme in preventing unintentional and intentional doping in junior elite athletes. Track and field athletes (N = 202) attended UK Athletics’ Clean Sport programme. This programme delivered information about the World Anti-Doping Agency, drug testing, anti-doping rule violations, use of medications, and risks associated with sport supplements. Participants completed measures related to unintentional (i.e. knowledge of anti-doping rules, intention to use sport supplements, beliefs about sport supplements) and intentional (i.e. doping likelihood, doping moral disengagement) doping at baseline, immediately after the programme, and at 3-month follow-up. Compared to baseline, immediately after the programme, participants had more knowledge about anti-doping rules (mean differences ± SEM = 2.34 ± 0.11; d = 1.40) and lower scores for intention to use supplements (-0.92 ± 0.12; d = 0.44), beliefs about the effectiveness of supplements, (-0.57 ± 0.06; d = 0.45), doping likelihood (-0.16 ± 0.03; d = 0.20), and doping moral disengagement (-0.20 ± 0.04; d = 0.26). At follow-up, knowledge of anti-doping rules (1.94 ± 0.12; d = 1.22), intention to use supplements (-1.26 ± 0.12; d = 0.63), and supplement beliefs (-0.52 ± 0.07; d = 0.42) remained different from baseline, whereas doping likelihood (0.01 ± 0.05; d = 0.01) and moral disengagement (0.13 ± 0.03; d = 0.09) returned to baseline. After attending the programme, participants were less likely to unintentionally dope in the short and medium term and were less likely to intentionally dope in the short term. However, the effects on intentional doping were not maintained after 3-months. These findings suggest that although the programme reduces intentional doping in the short term, it needs to be strengthened to sustain effects in the long term.

AIU. (2019). Athletics Integrity Unit: Global List of Inelgible Persons. Retrieved from https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/downloads/pdfs/disciplinary-proce...
Backhouse, S., Whitaker, L., Patterson, L., Erickson, K., & McKenna, J. (2016). Social Psychology of Doping in Sport: A Mixed Studies Narrative Synthesis. Montreal, Canada: World Anti-Doping Agency.
Backhouse, S. H., Griffiths, C., & McKenna, J. (2018). Tackling doping in sport: a call to take action on the dopogenic environment. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52, 1485-1486. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-097169
Backhouse, S. H., Patterson, L., & McKenna, J. (2012). Achieving the Olympic ideal: Preventing doping in sport. Performance Enhancement & Health, 1(2), 83-85. doi:10.1016/j.peh.2012.08.001
Barkoukis, V., Kartali, K., Lazuras, L., & Tsorbatzoudis, H. (2016). Evaluation of an anti-doping intervention for adolescents: Findings from a school-based study. Sport Management Review, 19(1), 23-34. doi:10.1016/j.smr.2015.12.003
Beedie, C., Benedetti, F., Barbiani, D., Camerone, E., Cohen, E., Coleman, D., . . . Szabo, A. (2018). Consensus statement on placebo effects in sports and exercise: the need for conceptual clarity, methodological rigour, and the elucidation of neurobiological mechanisms. European Journal of Sport Science, 18(10), 1383-1389. doi:10.1080/17461391.2018.1496144
Chan, D. K., Ntoumanis, N., Gucciardi, D. F., Donovan, R. J., Dimmock, J. A., Hardcastle, S. J., & Hagger, M. S. (2016). What if it really was an accident? The psychology of unintentional doping. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(15), 898-899. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-094678
Chan, D. K., Tang, T. C. W., Yung, P. S., Gucciardi, D. F., & Hagger, M. S. (2017). Is unintentional doping real, or just an excuse? British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097614
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155-159.
Craig, P., Dieppe, P., Macintyre, S., Michie, S., Nazareth, I., & Petticrew, M. (2008). Developing and evaluating complex interventions: the new Medical Research Council guidance. BMJ, 337, a1655.
de Hon, O., Kuipers, H., & van Bottenburg, M. (2015). Prevalence of doping use in elite sports: a review of numbers and methods. Sports Medicine, 45(1), 57-69. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0247-x
Elbe, A.-M., & Brand, R. (2016). The effect of an ethical decision-making training on young athletes’ attitudes toward doping. Ethics & Behavior, 26(1), 32-44. doi:10.1080/10508422.2014.976864
Elliot, D. L., Goldberg, L., Moe, E. L., Defrancesco, C. A., Durham, M. B., & Hix-Small, H. (2004). Preventing substance use and disordered eating: initial outcomes of the ATHENA (athletes targeting healthy exercise and nutrition alternatives) program. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 158(11), 1043-1049. doi:10.1001/archpedi.158.11.1043
Goldberg, L., Elliot, D., Clarke, G. N., MacKinnon, D. P., Moe, E., Zoref, L., . . . Miller, D. J. (1996). Effects of a multidimensional anabolic steroid prevention intervention: The Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS) Program. JAMA, 276(19), 1555-1562.
Hallward, L., & Duncan, L. R. (2019). A Qualitative Exploration of Athletes' Past Experiences With Doping Prevention Education. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 31(2), 187-202.
Houlihan, B., & Melville, S. (2011). Improving and proving: A handbook for the evaluation of anti-doping education programmes. In: Canada: World Anti-Doping Agency.
Hurst, P., Foad, A. J., Coleman, D. A., & Beedie, C. (2017). Development and validation of the Sports Supplements Beliefs Scale Performance Enhancement & Health, 5(3), 89-97. doi:10.1016/j.peh.2016.10.001
Hurst, P., Kavussanu, M., Boardley, I. D., & Ring, C. (2019). Sport supplement use predicts doping via sport supplement beliefs. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1-7. doi:10.1080/02640414.2019.1589920
Huybers, T., & Mazanov, J. (2012). What would Kim do: A choice study of projected athlete doping considerations. Journal of sport management, 26(4), 322-334. doi:10.1123/jsm.26.4.322
Kavussanu, M., Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Elbe, A.-M., & Ring, C. (2016). The moral disengagement in doping scale. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 24, 188-198. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2016.02.003
Kavussanu, M., Yukhymenko-Lescroart, M. A., Elbe, A.-M., & Hatzigeorgiadis, A. (2019). Integrating moral and achievement variables to predict doping likelihood in football: A cross-cultural investigation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 101518.
Kim, T., & Kim, Y. H. (2017). Korean national athletes’ knowledge, practices, and attitudes of doping: a cross-sectional study. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 12(1), 7.
Lentillon-Kaestner, V., & Carstairs, C. (2010). Doping use among young elite cyclists: a qualitative psychosociological approach. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 20(2), 336-345. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.00885.x
Little, R. J. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American statistical Association, 83(404), 1198-1202.
Lucidi, F., Mallia, L., Alivernini, F., Chirico, A., Manganelli, S., Galli, F., . . . Zelli, A. (2017). The Effectiveness of a New School-Based Media Literacy Intervention on Adolescents’ Doping Attitudes and Supplements Use. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 749.
MacArthur, G. J., Harrison, S., Caldwell, D. M., Hickman, M., & Campbell, R. (2016). Peer‐led interventions to prevent tobacco, alcohol and/or drug use among young people aged 11–21 years: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Addiction, 111(3), 391-407.
Murofushi, Y., Kawata, Y., Kamimura, A., Hirosawa, M., & Shibata, N. (2018). Impact of anti-doping education and doping control experience on anti-doping knowledge in Japanese university athletes: a cross-sectional study. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 13(1), 44.
Ntoumanis, N., Ng, J. Y., Barkoukis, V., & Backhouse, S. (2014). Personal and psychosocial predictors of doping use in physical activity settings: a meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 44(11), 1603-1624. doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0240-4
Ranby, K. W., Aiken, L. S., MacKinnon, D. P., Elliot, D. L., Moe, E. L., McGinnis, W., & Goldberg, L. (2009). A mediation analysis of the ATHENA intervention for female athletes: prevention of athletic-enhancing substance use and unhealthy weight loss behaviors. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 34(10), 1069-1083.
Ring, C., & Hurst, P. (2019). The effects of moral disengagement mechanisms on doping likelihood are mediated by guilt and moderated by moral traits. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 40, 33-41. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2018.09.001
Ring, C., Kavussanu, M., Lucidi, S., & Hurst, P. (2019). Effects of personal and situational factors on self-referenced doping likelihood. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 41, 29-35.
Turfus, S., Smith, J., Mansingh, A., Alexander-Lindo, R., & Roopchand-Martin, S. (2019). Supplementation practices, perceptions and knowledge about anti-doping among Jamaican high school athletes. Performance Enhancement & Health, 100145.
UKAD. (2017). Strategic plan. Retrieved from https://www.ukad.org.uk/sites/default/files/2019-04/UK%20Strategic%2...
UKAD. (2018). Annual reports and accounts. Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/u...
Ulrich, R., Pope, H. G., Cléret, L., Petróczi, A., Nepusz, T., Schaffer, J., . . . Simon, P. (2018). Doping in two elite athletics competitions assessed by randomized-response surveys. Sports Medicine, 48(1), 211-219.
WADA. (2009). Global Anti-Doping Organization Chart. Retrieved from https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/WADA_PK...
WADA. (2016). Information/Education Guidelines to Prevent Doping in Sport. Retrieved from https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/wada_gu...
WADA. (2019). Code Signatories. Retrieved from https://www.wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/the-code/code-signatories
Wippert, P. M., & Fliesser, M. (2016). National doping prevention guidelines: Intent, efficacy and lessons learned - A 4-year evaluation. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 11(1), 35. doi:10.1186/s13011-016-0079-9