SynthesisSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2014
The aetiology and trajectory of anabolic-androgenic steroid use initiation: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research.
Synthesis in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Anabolic-androgenic steroid administration increases self-reported aggression in healthy males: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.Psychopharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Polypharmacy among anabolic-androgenic steroid users: a descriptive metasynthesis.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2015Pooled it
- Developing and Evaluating a Universal Primary School Body Image Program: An Uncontrolled Pilot Study of Butterfly Body Bright.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Looking for the Best Way to Come Off Steroids Safely? Exploring Post-Cycle Therapy, Cessation, and Recovery Discourse and Practice in Australian Steroid Consumer Forums.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- Creating Safer Injecting Practices Through Community-Led Harm Reduction: Lessons From People Who Use Steroids for the Alcohol and Other Drug Sector.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- "Injecting yourself there is stigma around it; taking a few tablets is not too bad, is it?": understanding perceptions and preferences of anabolic-androgenic steroid route of administration.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use, Aggression, and Narcissism in Male Bodybuilders.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Prediction model for anabolic androgenic steroid positivity in forensic autopsy cases - a new tool to the autopsy room.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- Gendered perspectives on women's anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) usage practices.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Aggression and Psychological Distress in Male and Female Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Users: A Multigroup Latent Class Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Male Strength Athletes Who Use Non-prescribed Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Scoping Review into what they want and what they access.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Psychosocial correlates of gap time to anabolic-androgenic steroid use.The International journal of eating disorders · 2018Article
- Public health impact of androgens.Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity · 2018Review
- Understanding Appearance-Enhancing Drug Use in Sport Using an Enactive Approach to Body Image.Frontiers in psychology · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTo our knowledge, there has never been a systematic review and synthesis of the qualitative literature on the trajectory and aetiology of nonmedical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use.
methodsWe systematically reviewed and synthesized qualitative literature gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and reference lists of relevant literature to investigate AAS users' ages of first use and source(s), history prior to use, and motives/drives for initiating use. We adhered to the recommendations of the UK Economic and Social Research Council's qualitative research synthesis manual and the PRISMA guidelines.
resultsA total of 44 studies published between 1980 and 2014 were included in the synthesis. Studies originated from 11 countries: the United States (n = 18), England (n = 8), Australia (n = 4), Sweden (n = 4), both England and Wales (n = 2), and Scotland (n = 2). One study each originated from Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Great Britain, and Norway. The majority of AAS users initiated use before age 30. Sports participation (particularly power sports), negative body image, and psychological disorders such as depression preceded initiation of AAS use for most users. Sources of first AAS were mainly users' immediate social networks and the illicit market. Enhanced sports performance, appearance, and muscle/strength were the paramount motives for AAS use initiation.
conclusionsOur findings elucidate the significance of psychosocial factors in AAS use initiation. The proliferation of AAS on the illicit market and social networks demands better ways of dealing with the global public health problem of AAS use.
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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.