Women who use anabolic steroids tend to exhibit heightened levels of psychopathology, such as depression and antisocial traits, according to new findings published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.
“We were interested in this topic because very little is known about women who take anabolic steroids, and most studies tend to focus on the visible effects of these substances, rather than on the potential psychiatric effects or traits that make women prone to start using steroids,” explained study author Morgan Scarth, a PhD student at the Oslo University Hospital. “This is a result of stigma and perceived low prevalence of anabolic steroid use among females, and we wanted to know more about these women and their mental health.”
The study included 32 female weight-lifting athletes from Norway, who were recruited via social media, web forums, and flyers. Six participants indicated that they were currently using anabolic steroids, while 10 women were previous consumers. The researchers collected urine samples to confirm steroid use. The most commonly used steroids were Anavar (oxandrolone), clenbuterol, Winstrol (stanozolol) and Primobolan (metenolone).
The women completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, a scientifically validated questionnaire designed to assess 14 personality disorders (such as narcissism) and 10 clinical syndromes (such as anxiety and bipolar disorder). The participants also provided information regarding their weight-lifting training and records along with health-related information and previous pharmacological treatment for medical or psychiatric conditions.
Compared to those who had never used anabolic steroids, women who had used or were currently using anabolic steroids showed elevated levels of anxiety, somatic symptom disorder, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, alcohol dependence, drug dependence, PTSD, thought disorder, major depression, and delusional disorder. Women who had used or were currently using steroids also scored significantly higher on measures of depressive, antisocial, sadistic, negativistic, masochistic/self-defeating, and borderline personality disorders.
“Women who use anabolic steroids are more likely to experience psychiatric problems compared to other women in the weight-lifting community. This applies for a wide variety of both internalizing and externalizing problems, and many women reported symptoms of multiple types of psychiatric and personality disorders,” Scarth told PsyPost.
More than half of the women who had used or were currently using anabolic steroids had scores above the clinical cut-off on six or more measures.
“A large proportion of the women who used anabolic steroids indicated the coexistence of several different types of psychiatric challenges,” Scarth said. “Comorbidity is common among psychiatric disorders, however this result suggests that a large proportion of the sample experiences significant levels of symptoms representing a variety of psychiatric disorders.”
One limitation to note is that the study only collected cross-sectional data, which prevents the researchers from drawing conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships.
“It is important to note that this is a small sample size and it is not possible to say if the higher levels of psychiatric symptoms among women who used were caused by anabolic steroids, or if they are risk factors for starting to use these substances,” Scarth explained. “Longitudinal studies are needed to address the question of ‘which came first?'”
It is possible that anabolic steroid use increased the risk of psychiatric disorders. Previous research has found that exogenous testosterone is linked to reduced empathetic behavior, which could explain the heightened levels of sadistic and antisocial personality traits. But it is also possible women with elevated psychiatric symptoms are more likely to start using steroids.
“Women who use anabolic steroids face a great degree of stigma, and may be hesitant to seek care,” Scarth added. “Clinicians should be aware of the high level of psychiatric distress that may occur in women who have used anabolic steroids.”
The study, “Psychopathology among anabolic-androgenic steroid using and non-using female athletes in Norway“, was authored by Morgan Scarth, Marie Lindvik Jørstad, Amund Reierstad, Sandra Klonteig, Svenn Torgersen, Ingunn R. Hullstein, and Astrid Bjørnebekk.