Attentional bias for doping words and its relation with physical self-esteem in young adolescents

作者：Schirlin Olivier; Rey Gwladys; Jouvent Roland; Dubal Stephanie; Komano Odile; Perez Diaz Fernando; Soussignan Robert^*

来源：Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2009, 10(6): 615-620.

DOI：10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.03.010

• Adolescence
• Attentional bias
• Doping
• Emotional Stroop
• Physical activity
• Physical self-esteem

Objectives: Previous studies revealed that adolescence is a period of risk for doping and drug addiction and that young athletes who used doping agents reported low self-esteem. We conducted a preventive study with the aims to investigate whether young adolescents displayed an attentional bias to doping-related words and whether this attentional bias was related to physical self-esteem.
Method: Ninety seven adolescents (44 girls and 53 boys) from 11 to 15 years-old participated to a study designed to measure reaction times (RT) in a Stroop emotional task related to doping, cheating and control words. They also completed the Physical Self-Perception Profile subscales assessing perceived general self-esteem, physical self-worth, physical condition, sport competence, body attractiveness, and physical strength.
Results: Participants exhibited longer RT after doping words than after control words. RT was also longer after doping than after cheating words. Participants belonging to the low physical self-esteem group exhibited larger carry-over effects than those who were in the high physical self-esteem group.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that attentional resources allocated to doping words are already present at the onset of adolescence, and that they may be linked to a psychological feature (physical self-esteem) considered as a risk factor of substance abuse in young adults involved in competitive sports.

• 出版日期2009-11