Why Drug Testing in Elite Sport Does Not Work: Perceptual Deterrence Theory and the Role of Personal Moral Beliefs¹

TLDR

Performance‑enhancing drug use by elite athletes is a modern sporting and social concern. The study applied the perceptual deterrence framework to predict banned drug‑use decisions among 116 elite Australian footballers and soccer players. The authors used the perceptual deterrence framework to model banned drug‑use decisions among 116 elite Australian footballers and soccer players. Personal moral beliefs and health concerns were the strongest predictors of athletes’ hypothetical drug use, mediating the effect of drug testing, which overall had little influence but may be necessary for some athletes, highlighting the need for authorities to consider the link between testing and moral beliefs.

Abstract

Performance‐enhancing drug use by elite athletes is a modern sporting and social concern. We applied a long‐overdue theoretical framework, perceptual deterrence, to predicting the banned drug‐use decisions of 116 elite Australian footballers and soccer players. The strongest influence on athletes' hypothetical decisions to use drugs was their personal moral beliefs and health concerns, each of which also mediated the relationship between drug testing and athletes' decisions to use banned substances. Drug testing had little influence on athletes' imagined drug use decisions, although there are athletes for whom legal sanctions are necessary. The results have important implications for the way in which authorities fund and frame future anti‐drug initiatives; particularly the relationship between drug testing and athletes' personal moral beliefs.