Journal
SUBSTANCE USE & MISUSE
Volume 40, Issue 11, Pages 1637-1657Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/10826080500222727
Keywords
anabolic steroids; problem behavior; physical activity; gender; adolescent; strain theory; problem behavior theory; smokeless tobacco
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Funding
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE [R21DA013570] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NIDA NIH HHS [DA13570-01] Funding Source: Medline
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To test the comparative value of strain theory and problem behavior theory as explanations of adolescent anabolic steroid use, this study examined gender-specific relationships among steroid use, physical activity, and other problem behaviors. Based on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative sample of over 16,000 U.S. public and private high school students, binge drinking, cocaine use,fighting, and sexual risk-taking were associated with higher odds of lifetime steroid use. In gender-specific analyses, steroid use was strongly associated with female fighting and smokeless tobacco use as well as male sexual risk. Neither athletic participation nor strength conditioning predicted odds of steroid use after controlling for problem behaviors, nor did steroid-using athletes report more frequent use than steroid-using nonathletes. The study's limitations and policy implications were noted. These data suggest that other problem behaviors such as substance use, fighting, and sexual risk are better predictors of adolescent steroid use than physical activity. Interventions to prevent steroid use should not be limited to male participants in organized sports programs, but should also target adolescents identified as at risk for other problem behaviors.
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