Three Gym Mindsets Predict Who Stays Drug-Free

Staying away from performance-enhancing drugs is a real struggle in fitness centers. Health experts worry about people using pills, injections, or other substances to build muscle or boost performance. A study in Germany looked at how gym-goers make decisions about these drugs. The main question was simple: do different mindsets change how people respond to prevention programs?

The study took place in ten commercial gyms. The researchers used a cluster-randomized design, meaning whole gyms were assigned to different conditions. At the start, 624 people joined. After checking the data, 602 were kept. Only 550 completed all three rounds of questions. The average age was 28.4 years, with a standard deviation of 7.2. The group was 60% male, 39% female, and 1% diverse. The prevention program had three sessions. These sessions focused on social norms, risk perception, and self-regulation.

Participants answered questions at three time points. They rated their risk acceptance, protection motivation, intention to stay drug-free, and perceived behavioral control. A statistical method called latent transition analysis sorted people into groups. Three groups emerged. The first group had high protection and low risk. This was 44.7% of the sample. The second group was moderate and ambivalent. This was 38.2%. The third group had high risk and low protection. This was 17.1%.

The program showed a clear effect. People in the high-risk group were more likely to move into the moderate group if they received the intervention. The odds were 2.46 times higher. This result was statistically significant. The effect also depended on a person's starting mindset. People who were ambivalent at the beginning responded differently than those who were already protective. Booster use at the follow-up was checked as well, and it matched the group patterns.