Abstract
Adolescent athletes are being exposed to steroids and other illegal doping agents as early as 12 years of age. Educational doping prevention programs are being implemented during adolescence, but many athletes still lack doping knowledge. To ensure more effective doping education for adolescents, current gaps in doping knowledge needs to be identified and educational program delivery should be tailored to athletes' preferences. The purpose of this study was to explore young adult athletes' insights about the adequacy of the doping education they received as adolescents, and their recommendations for improving doping prevention education. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 athletes (n = 11 women and n = 10 men) who have competed at the provincial level or higher. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed inductively with thematic content analysis. Four themes emerged relating to athletes' doping education. First, athletes value doping prevention education, but the extent to which they deem it to be valuable in their sport varies considerably. Second, athletes discussed how they acquired their doping knowledge, with many athletes receiving very little education as an adolescent. Third, athletes discussed forms of doping education that were impactful and effective for them. Fourth, the athletes provided recommendations for delivering doping education to adolescent athletes based on their experiences and knowledge. The athletes received insufficient and inadequate doping education as adolescents. The athletes highlight a need to implement more formal doping education during adolescence that is more engaging, and delivered by sources respected by the athletes.Acknowledgments: This project has been carried out with the support of the World Anti-Doping Agency.