Assessment of Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drug Use

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There exists a substantial litterature on anabolic-androgenic streoids and other Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs (APEDs), however, no empirically validated measures of APED use currently exist. The objective of the current proposal is to develop a reliable and valid semi-structured interview for assessing the core phenomena of APED use, termed the Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drug Use Schedule (APEDUS). The specific aims are to (1) develop a semi-structured interview of the specific phenomena, drug use patterns, and pathological attitudes and behaviors associated with APED use, (b) establish the psychometric propoerties of the APEDUS through calculation of inter-rater reliablity, test-retest reliablity, internal consistency, concurrent, convergent, content and discriminant validity. The sample will consitute 104 (52 men, 52 women) current APED users who will complete a battery of interview and questionnaire self-report assessments including the APEDUS. To establish one week test-retest reliablity, a random subsample of APED users (n = 24) will complete a second APED interview administered by a blind assessor. Sensitivity and secificity of the interview will be calculated by comparing APEDUS results with urine screen results in another random sub-sample (n = 32). Content validity will be established through feedback from APED users on item content and incorporation of the relevant litterature on APED use patterns, motivations, and consequences into the APEDUS items. Convergent validity of the APEDUS will be established through correlations and semi-paritial correlations between APEDUS items and subscales with previously established measures of associated psychopathology and global impairment. In particular, APEDUS items and subscales will be correlated with measures of muscle dysmorphia and eating disorder symptomology and their shared features (e.g., compulsive exercise). Discriminant validity will be established through correlations between APED interview items and a social desirability scale. The proposed project is to develop the APEDUS, a measure of APED use in adult men and women. Such a measure will help forward NIDA's interests in studying APED use by enabling researchers accurately assess the risks associated with taking drugs to alter appearance or improve performance and ultimately improve our understanding of the consequences these drugs have on the men and women who use them.