Doping susceptibility in Korean athletes: A validation study of the ADBS-K

Objectives: The current study aimed at developing a doping behavior scale for Korean athletes based on the Sport Drug Control Model, and to evaluate its reliability and validity. Design: Cross-sectional validation study. Methods: A sample of 500 athletes aged 18 years and older in individual and team sports (comprising college and professional levels) registered with the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee was selected as the study participants. Of these, 454 completed scales were included in the data analysis. To verify the reliability and validity of the Athlete Doping Behavior Scale, face validity and content validity of the initial item pool were first established, followed by descriptive statistics, McDonald's omega coefficient, composite reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling. Results: The findings indicated that the Korean Athlete Doping Behavior Scale consists of 12 sub-factors and 37 items with verifying reliability and validity. The structural equation model analysis of the scale revealed that the threat of deterrence appraisal, morality, efficacy and perceived behavioral control, social and broad sport context, and personal and psychological factors exert a significant influence on susceptibility, which in turn exerts a significant influence on doping behavior. Conclusions: These findings validate the Korean Athlete Doping Behavior Scale for Korean athletes and identify the usefulness of it to understand influences of the Sport Drug Control Model on doping behavior. Nevertheless, there is a need to survey athletes representing a broader range of competition levels and cross-cultural research to test the applicability of the Athlete Doping Behavior Scale based on the Sport Drug Control Model to other populations of athletes.