Beyond Winning: Examining Sociodemographic and Sport Factors Associated with Doping Attitudes in High-Performance Sport Coaches Involved in Olympic Team Sports

Coaches have a significant impact on the lives and development of athletes, so understanding the factors that influence their doping attitudes (DA) are particularly important. The aim of this study was to investigate sport-specific and sociodemographic correlates of DA among high-level sport coaches involved in Olympic team sports (soccer, basketball, handball, and volleyball). The participants were high-level coaches from Kosovo (n = 113, age: 42.99±10.9 years). Previously validated questionnaires were used for testing all participants, asking them about sociodemographic-, sport- factors, doping-related-factors (all predictors), and DA (criterion). Logistic regression for binarized criterion (negative DA vs. neutral/positive DA) was applied to define the associations between the studied predictors and the DA as an outcome. The results revealed a greater likelihood of neutral/positive DA among male coaches (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.11–2.33) and among those coaches who believe that doping is prevalent in their sport (OR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.25–1.87). No further associations between the studied predictors and DA were found. Additional studies analyzing other samples, sports and variables are warranted.