ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2014
Exercise reinforcement, stress, and β-endorphins: an initial examination of exercise in anabolic-androgenic steroid dependence.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of physical activity interventions on physical and mental health of the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Pooled it
- Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: Emerging Use Disorder, Mechanisms of Action, and Clinical Considerations for Pharmacotherapy.Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing) · 2026Article
- Review
- The effect of tennis batting sound on anxiety: a randomized controlled trial and basic acoustic analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Role of miRNAs and lncRNAs in dexamethasone-induced myotube atrophyExperimental and therapeutic medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study: Overview of substance use assessment methods.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAnabolic-androgenic steroids (AASs) are abused primarily in the context of intense exercise and for the purposes of increasing muscle mass as opposed to drug-induced euphoria. AASs also modulate the HPA axis and may increase the reinforcing value of exercise through changes to stress hormone and endorphin release. To test this hypothesis, 26 adult males drawn from a larger study on AAS use completed a progressive ratio task designed to examine the reinforcing value of exercise relative to financial reinforcer.
methodSixteen experienced and current users (8 on-cycle, 8 off-cycle) and 10 controls matched on quantity×frequency of exercise, age, and education abstained from exercise for 24 h prior to testing and provided 24-h cortisol, plasma cortisol, ACTH, β-endorphin samples, and measures of mood, compulsive exercise, and body image.
resultsBetween group differences indicated that on-cycle AAS users had the highest β-endorphin levels, lowest cortisol levels, higher ACTH levels than controls. Conversely, off-cycle AAS users had the highest cortisol and ACTH levels, but the lowest β-endorphin levels. Exercise value was positively correlated with β-endorphin and symptoms of AAS dependence.
conclusionThe HPA response to AASs may explain why AASs are reinforcing in humans and exercise may play a key role in the development of AAS dependence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.