Investigation of social variables associated with the use of doping among Armenian athletes

Abstract

To improve the effectiveness of the fight against doping, it is necessary to assess the areas of risk of doping in various sports disciplines. Objective: to conduct a survey of Armenian athletes, to assess the impact of social variables on their attitude to the usage of doping, to identify areas of risk that require attention, and to assess beliefs about and attitude towards doping in different regions of Armenia and different sports. Materials and methods: 614 elite athletes (mean age - 19,9±2,6 years) included in this study represent track and field and weightlifting athletics, wrestling, boxing and etc. Results: based on the obtained results the decision was made to organize the education seminars for sports journalists. Athletes are greatly influenced by performances in which incompetent sports journalists never admit that the use of banned substances is immoral under any circumstances and always supports athletes who blame others of people. The results shown that Armenian athletes believe that they need to achieve their personal best without causing harm to their health. Conclusions: overall, the application of the WADA Social Science Research Package has provided valuable data on the current anti-doping situation, and also provided concrete directions for future efforts to reduce risk factors for doping.