A new meta-analysis of 14 previous studies led by University of New England (UNE) drug use researcher, Dr Katinka van de Ven, found little clarity on whether anabolic androgenic steroids themselves produce violent behaviour, or whether this behaviour is an underlying tendency among people who are drawn to the drugs.
“Very few of the studies we looked at considered whether the steroid use occurred before, during or after the violent act,” Dr van de Ven says. “And there was little consideration of the lifestyle and personality traits of habitual anabolic steroid consumers.”
“Because of the lack of a clear path of evidence between the taking of steroids and subsequent violent behaviour, we need to consider that these drugs might not cause violent behaviour, but that behaviour manifests as part of a risk-taking lifestyle by some sections of anabolic steroid-using communities.”
Dr van de Ven undertook the study, published today in the peer-reviewed journal Trauma Violence & Abuse, with another UNE researcher, psychologist Professor John Malouff, and Professor Jim McVeigh, Deputy Director at the Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Public Health.
Dr van de Ven says the team was particularly interested in examining the popular belief that anabolic androgenic steroids cause people – particularly men – to ‘snap’ and suddenly engage in violent behaviour colloquially known as ‘roid rage’.
While there is a strong signal associating those who take anabolic steroids with higher levels of violent behaviour, there is no clear evidence that steroids themselves cause episodes of ‘roid rage.
The researchers note that “poly-drug use” is high among people who use steroids, but there has been no analysis of whether other drugs, singly or in combination, might encourage violence.
One study of 10,365 male twins found a strong association between self-reported anabolic steroid use and conviction of a violent crime, but the relationship lost its statistical power when adjusted for other substance use.
The authors concluded that while the links between anabolic steroids and violent behaviour remain uncertain, health professionals should be targeting factors within steroid-using communities that lead to more violent behaviour.
They suggest an important step will be destigmatising anabolic steroid use, including minimising the “narrative of harm” associated with unregulated use of the drugs and better understanding the pleasurable and functional reasons for use of these substances.
“Improving engagement with health professionals plays a key role in ensuring that people who are using anabolic steroids non-medically (and are currently not able to stop) are informed about how to use these substances in the safest manner (i.e. harm reduction), as this potentially may reduce risk such as engaging in violent behavior,” say the study’s authors.
They argue for future research to explore whether the relationship between steroids and other factors provides a more complete picture of heightened violence in anabolic steroid communities, rather than focusing on steroids themselves being the cause of violence.
Journal article: The association between the non-medical use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) and interpersonal violence: a meta-analysis. Trauma Violence & Abuse: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15248380231186150
