Doping prevention in adolescence: findings from a chat-bot assisted educational program for high school students.

Abstract

Background: Doping is a widespread issue in both professional and amateur sports, affecting athletes of all ages and across different competitive levels. Literature suggests that one in three adolescents who practice sports considers the use of anabolic steroids to achieve a rapid increase in muscle mass. Recently, text-based messaging facilitated by human coaches or an artificial agent (Chatbot) has been increasingly adopted as web-based preventive interventions. This study aimed to describe a chatbot-assisted educational program (the LUDO Project) for adolescents.

Methods: Overall, 176 adolescents (aged 13-19 years), were recruited from schools across Italy. Half of the participants (N.=90) had access to the LUDO chatbot for two months to enhance their knowledge of doping, while the remaining (N.=86) received only informational contents without interactive engagement with the chatbot. An 18-item multiple-choice questionnaire was used to evaluate the impact of chatbot use on students' knowledge of substances, health-related risks, and physical, psychological, and legal consequences of doping behaviors.

Results: Between-group comparison revealed significant differences in doping knowledge between LUDO users and non-users. Further regression analysis elucidated that, on average, LUDO users scored 4 points higher on doping knowledge compared to non-users, a result that remained robust after adjusting for sex, age, and sport practice.

Conclusions: Findings supported the efficacy of the LUDO chatbot in enhancing adolescents' comprehension of doping risks, thereby underscoring the utility of digital interventions in educational contexts. Research should evaluate the long-term sustainability of these results and explore the applicability of digital tools in diverse settings.