Athletes’ attitudes toward risks

Competitive athletes’ ideal life style excludes drug use, but professionals have different experience. The following sports can be associated with drug use (Wichstram and Wichstram, 2009):

• social activities: alcohol consumption and drug use are social activities, thus doing sports helps drinking alcohol as athletes socialise in  trainings and competitions and when they are together
• stratification: being together with similar age groups generate different effects, if  the members of these age groups are separated from their older peers it may protect them from using drugs and drinking much alcohol
• timing: leisure time is reduced and parallel with this the opportunities of drug use are also fewer
• adult supervision: the presence of trainers and/or  parents may prevent athletes to try out drugs
• success orientation: due to the performance reduction effects of drugs athletes will not try taking drugs and substances

The protective effect of competitive sports regarding alcohol consumption is evident. This protection against smoking and drug use has also been proved by most studies (Taliaferro at al, 2010, Lisha and Sussman, 2010, Diehl et al, 2012). Concerning the issue of alcohol addiction there are two different views. Some researchers believe that there is a positive protective effect (Taliaferro at al, 2010, Lisha and Sussman, 2010, Diehl et al, 2012),  while few of them think that this relationship does not exist between competitive sports and alcohol consumption (Kokotailo et al, 1996, Overman and Terry, 1991, Pate and et al, 2000, Mikulás, 2007).