Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Sep 8:14:1241024.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1241024. eCollection 2023.

Appearance and performance factors associated with muscle building supplement use and favourable attitudes towards anabolic steroids in adolescent boys

Olivia Piplios  1 , Zali Yager  2   3 , Siân A McLean  4 , Scott Griffiths  5 , Jo R Doley  3
Affiliations

Appearance and performance factors associated with muscle building supplement use and favourable attitudes towards anabolic steroids in adolescent boys

Olivia Piplios et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: The demand for appearance and performance enhancing substances, including muscle building supplements and anabolic androgenic steroids, is increasing in Australia. However, little is known about the associations between appearance and performance-based factors and appearance and performance enhancing substances (APES), particularly among adolescent boys. This study sought to examine (a) the prevalence of muscle building supplement use in a sample of adolescent boys and (b) how both performance and appearance factors relate to muscle building supplement use and favourable attitudes towards anabolic androgenic steroids in this sample.

Method: N = 488 adolescent boys aged 13-16 (Mage = 14.59) from nine Australian schools completed measures of supplement use, favourable attitudes towards using steroids, muscle dissatisfaction, body fat dissatisfaction, mesomorphic ideal internalisation, weight training, and sports participation. Hierarchical logistic regressions were used to examine cross-sectional correlates of muscle building supplement use and favourable attitudes towards using anabolic androgenic steroids.

Results: In the past three months, 12.7% of the sample had used muscle building supplements. Both appearance and performance-related factors - mesomorphic ideal internalisation and weight training - were related to muscle building supplement use. Only one appearance-related factor - body dissatisfaction - was related to favourable attitudes towards anabolic androgenic steroids.

Discussion: The findings from this study are important as they may help to guide intervention strategies regarding appearance and performance enhancing substance use by Australian adolescent boys, with the ultimate goal of ensuring this population's safety.

Keywords: adolescent boys; androgenic anabolic steroids; body image; muscle building supplements; sports.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Almaiman A. (2018). Effect of testosterone boosters on body functions: case report. Int. J. Health Sci. 12, 86–90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Australian Bureau of Statistics . (2016). Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) (5). Available at: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/1270.0.55.005Mai...
    1. Australian Government Department of Health . (2019) Performance Enhancing Drugs. Retrieved June 2022, Available at: https://www.tga.gov.au/community-qa/performance-and-image-enhancing-drugs
    1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare . (2019). National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019. Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/77dbea6e-f071-495c-b71e-3a632237269d/ai...
    1. Australian Institute of Sport . (2022). Australian institute of sport (AIS) position statement: supplements and sports foods in high performance sport. Available at: https://www.ais.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/1000841/Position-Stat...