Spending hours scrolling may not be the only concern. This new study shows that viewing muscle-focused content, comparing bodies online, and addictive social media habits are all tied to greater intentions to use anabolic steroids among young men.
Study: Social media engagement and anabolic-androgenic steroid use intentions among boys and men in Canada and the United States. Image credit: Cassiano Correia/Shutterstock.com
A recent paper in the journal Body Image looks at how screen time and social media use are linked to the intention to initiate the use of AAS in Canada and the United States.
Fitspiration culture fuels body dissatisfaction
North American adolescents and young adults are reported to use social media “almost constantly,” with 10 % to 30 % reporting near-constant use. This helps build social connections, but also puts people at risk for unhealthy body messaging and dangerous habits.
“Fitspiration” is the term used to describe the projection of lean, muscular bodies on social media. Earlier literature demonstrates that increasing social media use predicts greater dissatisfaction with one’s body, the use of dietary supplements, eating disorders, a driving need to be muscular, and becoming obsessive about one’s muscular development through eating and fitness routines, including AAS use.
Young men and teenage boys are especially vulnerable to social media content designed to create discontent with their actual bodies, and to promote, often monetized, behavior to alter their bodies. This includes over-intensive weight training, consuming excessive amounts of protein, and using performance- or appearance-enhancing drugs. The latter includes protein supplements, creatine, and AAS.
AAS use occurs in 6 % of men and boys over a lifetime. These synthetic testosterone derivatives promote muscle mass building and protein synthesis, and the development of secondary sexual characteristics. This makes them attractive to young people who want to appear more muscular and like the ideal male body.
The current study extends earlier research by focusing on the type of social media content and its engagement. The point was to understand how content centered on muscularity images, rather than on overall health and function, affects the intention to use AAS. The authors describe intention as an early warning indicator that sits between exposure to social pressures and the possible initiation of use.
Examining intention before steroid use begins
The study used data from The Study of Boys and Men, involving 1,515 participants aged 15 to 35 years who had never used AAS. The average age was 24.1 years, and participants were recruited through social media advertisements in Canada and the United States.
The researchers analyzed seven forms of recreational screen use, total screen use, symptoms of social media addiction, exposure to social media content linked to muscularity, such as muscle-building supplements or drugs, and images of muscular bodies, and body comparisons on social media.
These factors were examined to determine whether they were statistically associated with AAS use intentions, with analyses adjusted for age, body mass index, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, education level, and country of residence.
Muscle-focused content linked to steroid intentions
Both men and boys reported a mean AAS intention score of 8.3 on a scale ranging from 5 to 35, which the authors note appears higher than some prior studies, though differences in measurement tools make direct comparisons difficult. Because the lowest possible score on the scale was 5, the average score indicates relatively low overall intention levels, but with meaningful variation across participants. This reflects the need for a uniform, validated assessment method for AAS intention.
This intention was highest among those who spent more time on social media, with a mean of 2 hours a day. However, watching television, video chats, texting, watching videos, or playing video games did not show associations, underscoring the specific role of social media rather than screen time more broadly. Web browsing was also modestly associated with higher AAS intentions, whereas total screen time was not.
Participants with more features of social media addiction were also associated with higher AAS intentions. Again, males who watch social media content associated with muscular development are more likely to have higher AAS intentions. Exposure to content about muscle-building drugs showed the strongest statistical association, although relatively few participants reported exposure, and the authors caution that this finding should be interpreted carefully because the responses were highly skewed. Finally, males who often compare their bodies with others on social media also have higher AAS intentions.
Comparing one’s appearance to others' bodies displayed on social media is linked to lower body satisfaction and higher AAS intentions, as shown by other research.
This aligns with prior research showing strong associations between image-based content, such as fitspiration, on social media and negative feelings towards one’s body and the use of supplements. The study does not establish that social media use causes AAS intentions; rather, it identifies patterns of association that may signal elevated risk. Further studies should examine whether the type of exposure (active versus passive) affects these associations and whether intentions translate into later use.
The study thus highlights the importance of identifying social media exposure to muscularity-glorifying content to provide preventive interventions.
Study limitations
The study has several limitations. It relied on selective recruitment via social media advertisements, which may limit generalizability despite the sample's demographic diversity. The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, and the findings are based on self-reported data. The tools used to assess AAS intention, muscularity-centered social media content, and body comparison were not formally validated measures. In addition, the study did not differentiate between passive viewing and active engagement with content.
Future studies should include longitudinal follow-up to confirm whether AAS intention translates into actual use and should develop validated tools to better assess risk.
A call to action for regulating online muscle-drug promotion
The findings emphasize the need to examine not only the total duration of social media use but also the content viewed and the context in which it is consumed when framing interventions to reduce AAS use. Such strategies could include increasing media and health literacy among boys and young men, encouraging critical evaluation of online content, and strengthening regulation of the online promotion of muscle-building drugs and supplements to prevent harmful messaging directed at vulnerable groups.
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