MEDICAL AREA   

Medicina dello Sport 2019 December;72(4):513-23

DOI: 10.23736/S0025-7826.19.03511-7

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Factors associated with potential doping behavior in Olympic-sailing: a gender-specific analysis

Sime VERSIC ¹, Ognjen ULJEVIC ¹, Dora MARIC ², Damir SEKULIC ¹ ✉, Dorica SAJBER ³

¹ Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Split, Split, Croatia; ² Department of Psychological, Pedagogical and Education Sciences, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; ³ Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

BACKGROUND: Olympic-sailing is not contaminated with doping, and special efforts are needed to keep this sport free of doping. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with potential doping behavior (PDB) in professional Olympic sailors.
METHODS: The sample of participants were professional Olympic Laser class athletes (N.=80, 39 females; all >18 years). Data were collected through previously validated questionnaires, utilizing sociodemographic-variables, sport-related-factors, and various factors of hesitation against doping (predictors), and PDB (criterion). To calculate the associations between predictors and the criterion, gender-stratified logistic regression models were calculated.
RESULTS: Negative social consequences of doping were identified as the important factors of hesitation against PDB in men, while health-related problems were identified as being highly important factors of hesitation in women. Sailing conditions present particular health challenges specific to women; therefore, women tend to be much more responsive to health concerns in general.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provided evidence about necessity of gender-specific approach in antidoping preventive campaigns. Further studies in other sports and with younger athletes are warranted.

KEY WORDS: Athletic performance; Doping in sports; Sports