...abuse in adolescents tend to be complex, despite rather widely-held assumptions that they can invariably be directly linked to social disadvantage, inadequate parenting and other comparatively simplistic causes. Abuse of steroids, however, is a specific sub-set of more general substance abuse in this age group, affecting as it does only a certain percentage of adolescents and not necessarily having the same causes or outcomes as other forms of substance abuse.
Vost (2001), for example, acknowledges that adolescents have cognitive resources dramatically different from those of childhood, coupled with a lack of balanced adult experience, which results in a tendency to misjudge or over-estimate their own potential. Given the social and cultural emphasis on physical strength and physical fitness, it is hardly surprising that weight-training, body-building and similar activities are particularly attractive to adolescents. In addition, the use of steroids amongst adults has become a tacitly accepted element of such forms of training, which can indicate to adolescents that it is appropriate for them to follow the...