Caffeine consumption, expectations of caffeine-enhanced performance and caffeinism symptoms among New Zealand athletes

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Psychology
Degree name
Master of Science
Publisher
University of Canterbury
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
English
Date
1995
Authors
van Maanen, Anita
Abstract

During the 1988 Olympic Games, an Australian pentathlete was ousted when a random urine test proved positive to a prohibited amount of caffeine after competing in 12 hours of fencing. This thesis begins with a literature review about caffeine in general, and about its use in sport.

The present research was carried out to investigate the incidence of caffeine abuse among New Zealand athletes, and their use of caffeine as a performance enhancing drug. A positive association amongst expectancies, caffeine consumption and caffeinism signs was predicted. It was also hypothesised that athletes who use caffeine as a performance enhancing drug would identity more strongly with the athlete role.

A survey questionnaire was designed to collect self report data on: daily caffeine consumption, DSMIII-R caffeinism symptoms experienced after consuming caffeine, expectations of caffeine-enhanced performance, and the extent to which subjects identify with the athlete role.

Respondents were 185 athletes across twelve sporting codes. The data were analysed using multiple regression, chi-square analyses and analyses of variance. 24.3% of the athletes reported using caffeine as a performance enhancing drug. 24.9% endorsed more than 5 symptoms of caffeinism. 26.5% of the sample believed caffeine can enhance sports performance and 51.4% of the sample identified strongly with the athlete role.

This study found a significant relationship between expectancy scores and caffeinism symptoms at the .01 significance level, but no relationship was found between expectancy scores and caffeine consumption. A statistically significant relationship was found for athletic identity and use of caffeine as a performance enhancing drug (p<.001).

The results of this study support the suggestion that caffeine be included in drug education programmes despite its ubiquity and legality. Suggestions for future research are made and implications for athletes are discussed.

Description
Citation
Keywords
Caffeine--Physiological effect, Athletes--Drug use--New Zealand, Doping in sports
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
All Rights Reserved