Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2018 Jul;37(5):664-670. doi: 10.1111/dar.12688. Epub 2018 Feb 27.
Emerging research suggests that the sub-population of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users who experience physical appearance concerns may suffer greater psychological dysfunction than other sub-populations, including users with athletic or occupational concerns. Thus, among current AAS users, we sought to determine whether, and to what extent, social physique anxiety-an established measure of appearance concern-was associated with psychological dysfunction.
Interviews were conducted with a sample of 74 male AAS users living in Australia. Users completed self-report instruments of the severity of AAS dependence, depression, hazardous and risky drinking, use of non-AAS illicit drugs, psychological side-effects due to AAS use and abnormal test results due to AAS use.
Multivariate analyses revealed that greater social physique anxiety was uniquely associated with more severe symptoms of both AAS dependence and depression. Moreover, the effect size of these relationships was large. Social physique anxiety was not associated with hazardous or risky drinking, non-AAS illicit drug use, psychological side-effects or abnormal test results.
Limitations notwithstanding, the study is consistent with the notion that AAS users who experience appearance concerns are at heightened risk of co-morbid psychological dysfunction. Given trends indicating an increase in the prevalence of AAS use in Australia and elsewhere, the findings suggest that health-care systems may need to consider prioritising the sub-population of AAS users who experience appearance concerns. Further investigation of the clinical syndrome of AAS dependence is required, including its relation to body image and eating disorders.
新兴研究表明，出现身体意象问题的合成代谢雄激素类固醇（AAS）使用者亚群可能比其他亚群（包括有运动或职业需求的使用者）遭受更大的心理功能障碍。因此，在当前的 AAS 使用者中，我们试图确定社交身体焦虑（一种既定的身体意象关注测量指标）是否以及在何种程度上与心理功能障碍有关。
对居住在澳大利亚的 74 名男性 AAS 使用者进行了访谈。使用者完成了关于 AAS 依赖严重程度、抑郁、危险和风险饮酒、非 AAS 非法药物使用、因 AAS 使用而产生的心理副作用以及因 AAS 使用而导致的异常测试结果的自我报告工具。
多变量分析显示，更大的社交身体焦虑与 AAS 依赖和抑郁的严重症状更为独特相关。此外，这些关系的效应大小很大。社交身体焦虑与危险或风险饮酒、非 AAS 非法药物使用、心理副作用或异常测试结果无关。
尽管存在局限性，但该研究与出现身体意象问题的 AAS 使用者存在共患心理功能障碍风险增加的观点一致。考虑到澳大利亚和其他地方 AAS 使用流行率增加的趋势，研究结果表明，医疗保健系统可能需要优先考虑出现身体意象问题的 AAS 使用者亚群。需要进一步研究 AAS 依赖的临床综合征，包括其与身体意象和饮食障碍的关系。
