Substance use more stigmatized than smoking and obesity

Abstract

This study expanded on past research on perception of individuals by comparing people who are described as using substances with people who are described as smoking and people who are described as obese. This research was a 2 (active difficulty vs. remission) by 3 (substance use, smoking, obesity) factorial design. There were a total of N = 161 adult participants who read a fictitious scenario about an individual who was either actively facing one of the aforementioned problems or in remission. Participants then answered questions that measured reported desired social distance from the individual in the scenario. As hypothesized, people who were actively using substances were the most highly stigmatized group, receiving a high level of reported intention to be socially distant from the individual. Implications of these findings for treatment of individuals who are using substances and training of treatment professionals are addressed.

• Stigma
• social distance
• substance use
• addiction
• public perception