Treatment Professionals' Basic Beliefs About Alcohol Use Disorders: The Impact of Different Cultural Contexts

ABSTRACT

Background: The treatment of alcohol abusers in different cultural contexts does not depend only on the methods used but also on the ways in which treatment providers perceive the problem and relate to their clients. Objectives: This study compares treatment professionals' basic beliefs about alcohol use disorders in two culturally different European countries to find out to what extent these ideas are shaped by the respondents' socio-cultural context, profession, and other background variables. Methods: Similar postal surveys were conducted among professionals working in specialized addiction treatment units in Finland (n = 520) and France (n = 472). The data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods and logistic regression analysis. Results: Consistent cultural differences were found in almost all the questions asked and they remained significant even after controlling for the other background factors. The French professionals emphasized the addictiveness of alcohol more than their Finnish colleagues. They also believed less in the chances of recovery and attributed more responsibility for the problem to external factors, while the Finns emphasized individual responsibility. Profession, gender and some other background variables also modified beliefs about specific questions. Conclusions: Cultural factors shape the ways in which alcohol use disorders are perceived more pervasively than the other background variables. The French professionals' low trust in treatment and the Finnish professionals' lack of concern for the addiction potential of alcohol and stronger tendency to regard the person as responsible for the problem could be seen as potential impediments to effective ways of helping alcohol abusers in these countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-cultural
• survey
• alcohol use disorders
• professional
• beliefs
• images
• France
• Finland

Glossary

• Attribution of responsibility: Assigning responsibility to someone for something; regarding someone as responsible for something.

• Belief: Confidence or trust in something; something one accepts as true.

• Images: General ways in which people interpret a phenomenon through their private and shared knowledge structures, experiences and value systems. Images are both embodied and culturally embedded and they may consist of both visual and verbal elements.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Funding

This study received funding from the Academy of Finland (grant number 117735).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anja Koski-Jännes

Anja Koski-Jännes, PhD, is a Professor (Emerita) of Social Psychology at the University of Tampere, Finland. She got her doctorate from the University of Helsinki. She has studied addictions for over 30 years and also worked as a clinician with substance abusers. Her addiction-related rese-arch interests include treatment processes and outcomes, recovery from addictive behaviors, and images of and conceptual issues in addictions.

Marjo Pennonen

Marjo Pennonen, MA, is currently studying views on substance addictions among Finnish addiction treatment professionals. She received her M.Soc.Sc. in social psychology from the University of Tampere. She worked at the same university as a research assistant and researcher between the years 2002 and 2012. Previously, she worked at the University Hospital of Tampere for 19 years as a practical nurse for children.

Laurence Simmat-Durand

Laurence Simmat-Durand, Ph.D. in Demography, is Professor (Research) in the Department of Social Sciences at Paris Descartes University. Her main focus is sociological research related to addictions, mainly to opioids in pregnancy and the trajectories of exposed children. She is currently investigating recovery stories and trajectories out of addiction among long-term dependent people.