Abstract
Performance enhancing drugs (PED) represent a serious problem both in competitive and leisure sports, including youth sport. However, to our knowledge, no recent studies have explored this phenomenon in the Czech context.
The aim of the present study (conducted with a support of the World Anti-Doping Agency) is to explore the prevalence of doping in the Czech adolescents and their attitudes toward doping. 2851 Czech adolescents (mean age 16,2 years) participated in a questionnaire survey that assessed their experience with doping and attitudes towards doping. We found that Czech adolescents reported relatively high level of doping in comparison with international studies. 8% of respondents reported at least one-time experience with doping and 2,2 % reported that they used doping "repeatedly" or "regularly".
Doping was reported significantly more frequently by men, students of vocational schools, and students of sport schools. The highest prevalence of doping was observed in elite athletes (12,3 %), followed by leisure athletes.
About twice the number of respondents reported an encounter with doping: 16,9 % of respondents reported that they were offered doping at least once. Doping was most frequently offered to elite athletes (25 %) and competitive athletes.
In general, respondents reported negative attitudes towards doping but, at the same time, relatively positive attitudes in comparison with results of international studies. Respondents also estimated relatively high prevalence of doping in elite sport.
Our results suggest that doping represents a risk behavior prevalent in a significant portion of Czech adolescent population and should become a focus of further research studies and preventive programs. Key words: