A groundbreaking new study emerging from the University of Toronto has revealed pivotal insights into the social dynamics that influence the intentions to use anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) among boys and men. This extensive research delves deeply into how exposure to AAS use within personal social networks correlates with an individual’s likelihood to consider using these potent muscle-enhancing substances, even in the absence of prior personal use. Such findings enrich our understanding of how social contagion effects extend beyond traditional behavioral influences into the realm of performance-enhancing drug use.
The research team, spearheaded by Dr. Kyle Ganson of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, conducted one of the first large-scale empirical analyses focusing explicitly on the social and demographic factors that modulate intention toward AAS use. Drawing on data collected from over 1,500 respondents across Canada and the United States, the study rigorously evaluated how perceived steroid use—educated by direct observation or social report—influences emerging attitudes and intentions toward these substances.
A key revelation from the study was that more than one-third of participants acknowledged knowing someone who currently uses AAS within their immediate social circles. This high incidence of perceived exposure serves as a potent psychological cue that appears to normalize anabolic steroid use, potentially lowering the threshold for acceptance and future experimentation among young males navigating complex bodily, social, and identity pressures.
Despite the overall low baseline of AAS use intentions across the sample, the researchers uncovered a statistically significant relationship between social network exposure and an elevated likelihood of intending to use steroids in the future. This correlation holds profound implications for public health frameworks, underscoring the role that proximal peer influences play in shaping health-related behavioral trajectories well before use becomes initiated.
Beyond social exposure, the study intricately assessed sociodemographic variables, unveiling noteworthy disparities aligned with identity markers. Individuals of multi-racial backgrounds demonstrated a heightened propensity towards intending to use AAS, a phenomenon possibly reflective of nuanced cultural, social capital, or identity negotiation factors that merit further qualitative exploration. In contrast, those identifying as gay and individuals possessing graduate-level education exhibited a reduced inclination toward AAS use intentions, hinting at protective psychosocial elements or differential subcultural norms that may mitigate risk.
This layered understanding of how intersecting social and demographic factors influence steroid use intentions illustrates the complex interplay between individual identity, social context, and health behavior risk. It compels a reevaluation of health interventions and prevention strategies, advocating for approaches that are tailored to the lived realities and social milieus of targeted populations rather than generic, one-size-fits-all messaging.
The normalization of muscle enhancement substances within certain subcultures signals a broader epidemiological trend, one that challenges traditional conceptions of doping as an elite athlete issue alone. Increasingly, anabolic steroids permeate everyday social environments, influenced by pervasive cultural ideals of masculinity, fitness, and bodily perfection, propagated irresistibly through social media and peer dynamics. The study’s findings illuminate how these factors coalesce into an environment where intention formation precedes actual use.
Furthermore, this research offers valuable data to inform harm reduction initiatives. By highlighting the significant role of social network exposure, prevention programs can be recalibrated to disrupt the diffusion of pro-AAS attitudes within social groups, emphasizing awareness raising and resilience-building in the context of peer influence. Such targeted interventions hold promise in delaying or preventing initiation among vulnerable youth and emerging adults.
Dr. Ganson emphasizes the critical importance of addressing the psychosocial pressures that often catalyze steroid use intentions, especially those linked to body image and performance enhancement – domains that remain fraught with vulnerability, stigma, and misinformation. The study thus serves as a clarion call to stakeholders across health, education, and social services to integrate nuanced social context variables into their programming.
Methodologically, the study employed sophisticated multivariate analyses to parse out the relationships between social network perceptions, identity factors, and steroid use intentions, controlling for confounding variables and enhancing the robustness of its conclusions. This empirical rigor strengthens confidence in the findings’ relevance, advocating for their incorporation into policy discourse and resource allocation toward preventive health.
In sum, this pioneering research marks a critical advancement in steroid use epidemiology, shifting the emphasis from purely individual choices to the complex social architectures within which these choices mature. The University of Toronto team’s work lays a vital foundation for future investigations that may explore causality, longitudinal trajectories, and intervention efficacy targeted at the social contagion of AAS use.
As anabolic-androgenic steroid use becomes increasingly embedded in the cultural fabric of certain youth-oriented subcultures, understanding the psychosocial and demographic drivers of use intention becomes urgent. This study’s revelations offer a roadmap for science-based, socially informed prevention strategies aimed at curbing the spread of AAS use before it starts, ultimately safeguarding physical and mental health across populations vulnerable to such risks.
Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Social Network Exposure and Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Intentions to Use Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids
News Publication Date: 2-Jul-2025
Web References: 10.1016/j.peh.2025.100357
Keywords: anabolic-androgenic steroids, AAS, social network influence, steroid use intention, sociodemographic factors, performance enhancement, substance use prevention, body image, peer influence, harm reduction, youth health behavior, social contagion
