PhD, Associate Professor V.N. Sergeev
Dr.Hab., Professor A.A. Kudinov
Dr.Med., Associate Professor V.S. Bakulin
Volgogarad State Physical Education Academy

Keywords: doping, young athletes, model, doping prevention, performance evaluation criteria.

Introduction. In recent years, there has been an urgent need for organizing activities to fight doping among young athletes [1, 3], to ensure the effective prevention of performance enhancing drug use by young athletes, including those attending sport schools [3]. Doping usage more and more often leads to the development of psychological and physical addiction to those drugs in young people. Sport schools and other sport organizations cannot divert young people from the abuse of prohibited drugs under existing situation [2, 4]. All of this indicates the need for systematic work to prevent negative social manifestations in young athletes, one of which being doping.

In the course of our research we have developed preventive work models for young people based on the resources of physical education and sports. The work should be continued. However, when deciding on the practical implementation of the developed models the question inevitably arises of the comparative assessment of their perceived effectiveness, which primarily requires reliable evaluation criteria.

The objective of our research was to justify efficiency criteria of the doping prevention models in young athletes’ training and competitive activities.

Research methods and organization. The following methods were used in the study: analysis of scientific and methodological literature, statistical data collection and study methods, questionnaires, mathematical methods of statistics. The study involved young athletes, sport school pupils (n = 124), engaged in a variety of sports: athletics, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, football, boxing, swimming, acrobatics.

Results and discussion. The survey results were analyzed to develop criteria for evaluating the performance efficiency of anti-doping activities in youth sports and possibilities of doping counteraction. Young athletes were asked 20 out of 67 multiple choice questions selected by experts, which were divided into three pools: the first question pool characterized the respondents’ motor activity when doing sports, the second one – their healthy lifestyle skills, and the third one – the attitude to doping and the ability to counter its use.

The skilled specialists of Volgograd State Academy of Physical Education ranked the respondents' estimate answers in order of their importance. Later, the coefficients were determined for each possible answer to these questions, characterizing their manifestation degree in the sample. The corresponding coefficients were calculated for each answer option, which displays performance in a specific range in the 3-point grading system. This technology allowed determining the manifestation level of each question pool and complex index (sum of three pools).

Results and discussion. In Table 1 we present the calculation scheme of the analyzed indicators in reference to one of the questions: "How often do you exercise a week on average, including morning exercises?"

Table 1.

 The technology of indicator calculation on the example of this question based on the results of the array as a whole:

Next, the mean values and standard deviation were calculated for each variable, and the correlation coefficients were identified for each pair of variables. Using the obtained statistical characteristics, the multiple regression equation for variables was calculated (attitude to doping, motor activity and healthy lifestyle skills level), which is represented in the following form: х₁ = 0,66 х₂ + 1,10 х₃ + 2,65 (where х₁ is attitude to doping, points; х₂ - motor activity, points; х₃ - healthy lifestyle skills level).

The mean value of the first question pool was 11.09 points, the second - 10.86 points, the third - 21.92 points, and the total of three question pools - 43.87 points. The integrated indicator showed the development level of the analyzed characteristics.

It was determined that 57.5% of the attitude to doping indicator variation was due to the combined influence of motor activity indicators (18.3%) and healthy lifestyle skills level (39.2%). Thus, healthy lifestyle skills level has a larger share (as compared to motor activity) in the process of countering and preventing the performance enhancing drug use by young athletes.

According to the variance analysis, 20.7% of the motor activity variation, 16.4% of the healthy lifestyle skills level variation and 28.5% of the variation of indicators of attitude to doping were due to the specific features of the sports the young athletes were engaged in.

According to the young athletes’ survey, anti-doping attitude indicators were as follows: young gymnasts (13.25 points), acrobats (13.03 points) and swimmers (12.34 points) had the highest motor activity rates, since in this group they started sport career earlier (mostly at the age of 6 to 8 years). The lowest rates were defined in basketball players (9.75 points).

Young gymnasts had the highest healthy lifestyle skills rates (12.74 points), while young football players had the lowest rates (9.35 points). The most pronounced negative attitude towards doping was found in young acrobats (26.35 points), and football players had the lowest score (18.65 points). The highest total indicator was detected in young gymnasts (52.09 points) and acrobats (51.54 points), and the lowest - in football players (38.14 points).

Knowing the regression residual (comparison of actual to estimated х₁ figures), one can estimate the efficiency of doping prevention measures. According to our data, the best anti-doping activities were carried out among young acrobats (7.0%), volleyball players (5.7%), gymnasts (2.7%), and the worst - among football players (- 5.0%) and swimmers (- 6.1%). Analysis of motor activity, level of healthy lifestyle skills and attitude to doping in relation to sports reveals significant qualitative differences in these characteristics.

Conclusion. The proposed approach allows to define the indicators of efficiency of doping prevention activities in youth sports, to assess the results of these activities among athletes, training groups, separate sports, and sports institutions and organizations.

References

1. Bal'sevich V.K. Sport bez dopinga: fantastika ili neotvratimost'? (Sport without doping: fiction or inevitability?) / V.K. Bal'sevich // Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury. – 2004. – № 3. – P. 29–30
2. Gretsov A.G. Metodika antidopingovoy raboty s molodymi sportsmenami (Anti-doping activities with young athletes) / Ed. by O.M. Shelkov. – St. Petersburg: SPbNIIFK, 2010. – 48 p.
3. Samovarova E.V. Doping kak nereshaemaya problema v sporte vysshikh dostizheniy / E.V. Samovarova // Vestnik Chelyabinskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Obrazovanie i zdravookhranenie (Herald of Chelyabinsk State University. Education and Health Care). – 2014. – № 2. – P. 136–140.
4. Sergeev V.N. Obshchie printsipy i osnovnye zadachi, reshaemye v protsesse razrabotki tekhnologiy antidopingovoy profilaktiki (General principles and main issues to address when developing anti-doping technologies) / V.N. Sergeev // Vestnik sportivnoy nauki. – 2011. – № 1. – P. 16–18.

Corresponding author: fona@yandex.ru

Abstract
The article presents the results of our research on the development of efficiency evaluation criteria for model anti-doping activities with regard to young athletes. Three groups of respondents’ characteristics were identified using the questionnaire method: their motor activity, level of healthy lifestyle skills and attitudes to doping and the ability to fight the performance-enhancing drug usage. The attained results showed that the indicator of the level of healthy lifestyle skills is most important in anti-doping activities as compared to the motor activity indicator. The differences in the investigated characteristics manifesta-tion in representatives of different sports were identified. The technology of calculating the evaluation criteria of model anti-doping activities for young athletes was presented.