ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the relationship between athlete drug use and abuse in sport. It provides a narrative into the distinction between athlete drug use in sport and in society, before reflecting on theoretical models that have identified what may lead an athlete to use drugs in sport. The chapter concludes with an overview of research examining education interventions as a potential tool to deter drug use, and the implications of adopting this in practice. The current discussion on athlete drug use follows one of three models: the social cognitive model, the Incremental Model of Doping Behavior (IMDB), and grounded models. Preventing a behavior from occurring is recognized to be more effective than discouraging one that is already established. Since the ancient Olympics, athletes have readily used various drugs to help improve and facilitate their performance.
