Zoob Carter Barnaby N, Boardley Ian D, van de Ven Katinka
School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Centre for Rural Criminology, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Mar 22;12:636706. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.636706. eCollection 2021.
One sub-population potentially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are strength athletes who use anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). We examined links between disruption in AAS use and training due to the pandemic and mental health outcomes in this population, hypothesising: (a) the pandemic would be linked with reduced training and AAS use; and (b) athletes perceiving greater impact on their training and AAS use would report increases in detrimental mental health outcomes. Male strength athletes using AAS ( = 237) from 42 countries completed an online questionnaire in May 2020. A sub-sample ( = 90) from 20 countries participated again 4 months later. The questionnaire assessed pre-pandemic and current AAS use and training, alongside several mental health outcomes. At Time 1, most participants perceived an impact of the pandemic on AAS use (91.1%) and/or training (57.8%). Dependent -tests demonstrated significant reductions in training frequency ( = 7.78; < 0.001) and AAS dose ( = 6.44; < 0.001) compared to pre-pandemic. Linear regression showed the impact of the pandemic on training was a significant positive predictor of excessive body checking ( = 0.35) and mood swings ( = 0.26), and AAS dose was a significant positive predictor of anxiety ( = 0.67), insomnia ( = 0.52), mood swings ( = 0.37). At Time 2, fewer participants perceived an impact of the pandemic on AAS use (29.9%) and/or training (66.7%) than at Time 1. Training frequency ( = 3.02; < 0.01) and AAS dose ( = 2.11; < 0.05) were depressed in comparison to pre-pandemic. However, AAS dose had increased compared to Time 1 ( = 2.11; < 0.05). Linear regression showed the impact of the pandemic on training/AAS use did not significantly predict any mental-health outcomes. However, AAS dose was a significant negative predictor of depressive thoughts ( = -0.83) and mood swings ( = -2.65). Our findings showed impact of the pandemic on the training and AAS use, reflected in reduced training frequency and AAS dose. However, whilst we detected some short-term consequential effects on mental health, these did not appear to be long-lasting.
受新冠疫情大流行潜在影响的一个亚群体是使用合成代谢雄激素类固醇（AAS）的力量型运动员。我们研究了疫情导致的AAS使用和训练中断与该人群心理健康结果之间的联系，假设如下：（a）疫情将与训练和AAS使用减少有关；（b）认为疫情对其训练和AAS使用影响更大的运动员会报告有害心理健康结果增加。2020年5月，来自42个国家的237名使用AAS的男性力量型运动员完成了一份在线问卷。4个月后，来自20个国家的90名子样本再次参与。问卷评估了疫情前和当前的AAS使用及训练情况，以及多项心理健康结果。在时间1时，大多数参与者认为疫情对AAS使用（91.1%）和/或训练（57.8%）有影响。相关样本t检验表明，与疫情前相比，训练频率（t = 7.78；p < 0.001）和AAS剂量（t = 6.44；p < 0.001）显著降低。线性回归显示，疫情对训练的影响是过度身体检查（β = 0.35）和情绪波动（β = 0.26）的显著正向预测因子，AAS剂量是焦虑（β = 0.67）、失眠（β = 0.52）、情绪波动（β = 0.3
