Educational Intervention on Awareness of Health-Damaging Behaviors in Educators.

Abstract

Doping prevention transcends elite sports, highlighting a broader societal challenge where performance enhancement is driven by pressures to increase strength, beauty, and status. This issue extends to adolescents and non-competitive sports participants, where self-optimization pressures are increasingly normalized. Research underscores the need for tailored educational interventions that go beyond punitive measures, fostering ethical decision-making and personal responsibility. The recent literature emphasizes that addressing psychological protective factors, such as self-efficacy and emotional regulation, can effectively mitigate substance use risks. The project "Sport Informa" involved the educational community and adolescents between the ages of 16 and 19, with the goal of providing knowledge about the phenomenon of doping and acquiring tools useful for enhancing self-esteem and self-management skills, in order to prevent the risk of doping by promoting a balanced psychophysical development in young people. A 16 h online training program was delivered to high school teachers. The training provided knowledge about doping, its psychological and social implications, and practical tools for promoting protective factors in students. A longitudinal design was employed, with data collected before and after the intervention using validated psychometric tools, including the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. Results showed significant improvements in teachers' psychological dimensions, particularly in self-efficacy and emotional regulation, which they subsequently applied in their interactions with students. Finally, a survey was conducted with young participants who took part in the project activities to assess their self-evaluation of key factors relevant to designing future educational interventions and events aimed at preventing doping use.