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Athletes Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS)

Public Health & Prevention: School-based
  Literature review updated June 2016.

This program for male high school athletes involves 7 classes on the effects of anabolic steroids conducted by coaches, 7 weight training sessions, and one parent session during the sports season.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Drinking and driving
Official or self-reported drinking and driving—arrests, citations, or behavior.
 16 1 1145 0.002 0.124 17 0.005 0.971
Illicit drug use before end of high school
Any use of illicit drugs by the end of high school, typically between ages 14 to 18. When possible, we exclude cannabis/marijuana use disorder from this outcome.
 16 1 1145 0.022 0.124 17 0.067 0.590
Anabolic steriod use
Any use of anabolic steroids.
 16 2 1677 -0.019 0.089 17 -0.058 0.512

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Goldberg, L., Elliot, D.L., Clarke, G.N., MacKinnon, D.P., Moe, E., Zoref, L., Green, C., Wolf, S.L., Greffrath, E., Miller, D.J., & Lapin, A. (1996). Effects of a multidimensional anabolic steroid prevention intervention: The Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids (ATLAS) Prevention Program: Background and results of a model intervention. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 150(7), 713-721.

Goldberg, L., MacKinnon, D.P., Elliot, D.L., Moe, E.L., Clarke, G., & Cheong, J. (2000). The Adolescents Training and Learning to Avoid Steroids Program: Preventing drug use and promoting health behaviors. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 154(4), 332-338.