Motivators of Indiscriminate and Unsafe Supplement Use among Young Australians

Background: There is growing concern about the self-administration of supplements, which can often be indiscriminate, counterproductive to health, and serve as a gateway to more harmful drugs and substances. Research suggests that high uptake of performance- and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) is correlated with body image to accentuate masculinity. This study provides insights into limiting unhealthy supplement usage. This research identifies reasons for casual unhealthy supplement use among young adult Australians through the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) lens, providing practitioners with insights into developing interventions to deter their use. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with ten participants aged between 18 and 40, using a convenience sample. Leximancer analysis was used to assess word co-occurrence and map to TPB constructs. Results: Leximancer identified positive attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control towards supplement usage. Key themes that influenced supplement use were weight loss, body image, nutrition, training, education, challenges, need, and time. Furthermore, using TPB constructs, affective and instrumental attitudes and prevailing norms were observed when investigating what would cause an individual to use supplements in an unhealthy manner. Conclusion: Through understanding the motivations of indiscriminate supplement use across the Australian population, the study has uncovered several social factors that may reduce or limit the practice of unsafe supplement usage.