Multimodal addiction prevention in sports settings: implementation and evaluation of the PAMS* program in France
The PAMS program, a multimodal addiction prevention initiative in French sports settings utilizing social media, professional training, and athlete testimonies, demonstrated successful implementation and high engagement among both digital audiences and sports professionals.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine the world of sports as a giant, high-energy party. Usually, this party is great for your body and mind, like a super-healthy smoothie. But sometimes, the "party culture" sneaks in a few bad ingredients—like too much alcohol or other substances—making people think it's normal to drink heavily after a game or use drugs to cope with stress.
The PAMS program is like a new set of rules and tools designed to clean up that party without killing the fun. Created in France, it's a "three-pronged" attack to stop addiction before it starts, targeting three different groups of people.
Here is how they did it, explained simply:
1. The Digital Billboard (Social Media)
The Goal: Reach young people (ages 15–30) where they already are: on their phones.
The Method: Instead of boring lectures, the team created 140 short and long videos for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
- The "Let's Talk" videos: Former athletes shared their real stories about retiring and the hard times they faced.
- The "Two Fast" videos: Quick answers to common questions like, "Does drinking a beer help you recover?"
- The "On débunk" videos: These were like fact-checkers, busting myths (e.g., proving that a beer doesn't actually help your muscles recover).
The Result: It was like throwing a massive digital net. They got over 162,000 views. The "engagement rate" (how many people liked or commented) was about 3.8% to 4.1%. This means the content didn't just sit there; people actually stopped to look at it and interact with it.
2. The Coach's Toolkit (Training Professionals)
The Goal: Equip the "adults in the room" (coaches, referees, doctors, managers) with the skills to spot trouble and guide athletes.
The Method: They built a two-day workshop based on a psychological theory called the "Theory of Planned Behavior." Think of this as teaching coaches how to change the mindset of the team, not just the rules. The training covered:
- How addiction works.
- How to spot early warning signs.
- How to have tough conversations without being preachy.
- How to manage stress and emotions.
The Result: 716 sports professionals attended these sessions across France (mostly in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region). Of those, 318 completed the full course. - Satisfaction: The coaches loved it. On a scale of 1 to 4, they gave it an average score of 3.6.
- Learning: They felt they learned a lot (Level 2 score: 3.6) and felt confident they could use what they learned (Level 3 score: 3.7).
- Real-world impact: One major rugby federation actually used what they learned to launch a new plan to stop violence and incivility in their clubs.
3. The "What's Next?" Video (Career Transition)
The Goal: Help elite athletes prepare for the day they stop playing professionally.
The Method: They filmed video testimonials from former elite athletes who had successfully navigated retirement.
The Logic: When an athlete stops playing, they can lose their identity and feel lost, which sometimes leads to substance abuse. By showing them a roadmap for life after sports, the program hopes to prevent that crash.
The Result: Three videos were posted. While they didn't get as many views as the general prevention videos, the people who did watch them were very engaged (a 4.1% engagement rate), suggesting the message hit home for those who saw it.
The Big Picture
The paper concludes that this "multimodal" approach (using digital tools, training adults, and helping athletes transition) is a fresh and effective way to tackle addiction in sports.
- What worked well: The digital content got people's attention, and the coaches were very happy with their training.
- What the paper didn't prove: The study measured how many people watched the videos and how much the coaches liked the training. It did not measure whether athletes actually stopped drinking or using drugs in the long run. The paper suggests that while the "culture" is changing, we need more time to see if the actual behavior of athletes changes as a result.
In short, PAMS is like building a stronger immune system for the sports world: it's teaching the coaches to be the antibodies and giving the athletes the vitamins they need to stay healthy, even when the "party" gets rowdy.
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