Protective factors of performance-enhancing substance use in a sample of portuguese gym-goers

Background: Nowadays, the increased Performance Enhancing-Substance (PES) use in fitness centers is seen as a problematic phenomenon, since it has potential to grow, and could be seen as an emerging public health and societal concern. Studies focusing on PES use among gym-goers are few and they do not provide information concerning protective factors that justify the refusing intention to use these substances. Understanding the underlying psychosocial mechanisms of PES use and the protective factors of the gym-goers who refuse the use of these substances could help identifying those who are most resistant to PES use.
Aim: To investigate the protective factors (e.g., sociodemographic factors, exercise profile, gym modalities, peers, social influence, attitudes, subjective norms, beliefs, and intentions) of PES refusing intention in gym-goers. Participants: A convenience sample of 453 Portuguese gym-goers having the mean age of 35.64 (SD = 13.08) Tool: Web self-administered questionnaire containing questions related to sociodemographic characteristics and selfreported use of PES, as well as the QAD-Fit (Tavares et al., 2019) based on the Theory of Planned Behavior which is composed by questions grouped on four dimensions (attitudes, beliefs, intentions, and subjective norms). Procedures: Data was collected using an on-line self-administrated questionnaire, and results were analysed using Decision Trees, which are a method widely used in classifying and identifying profiles, in machine-learning and data mining.
Results: 88,9% of gym-goers reported the refuse of prohibited PES, showing that being woman, training less frequently, not practicing bodybuilding and having a negative intention to consume PES, could be considered protective factors for PES use.
Conclusion: Results provide identifying the protective factors associated with PES refusing intention, which may support public health and clinical interventions to prevent abusive use of PES and improve the health and well-being of gym-goers.