Factors that contribute to stigma toward opioid users among social work students

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to understand contributing factors of stigma toward people with opioid use disorder (OUD). We conducted a randomized factorial survey with Masters in Social Work (MSW) students (n = 70). Students received four vignettes describing a person with OUD, yielding a total of 275 vignettes for analysis. We tested whether stigma differed according to the characteristics of people with OUD. We found significantly more stigmatizing attitudes toward people with OUD who 1) inject heroin versus use oxycodone and 2) do not always take buprenorphine as prescribed versus always takes buprenorphine as prescribed. These findings indicate the need for MSW training that destigmatizes heroin use and inconsistent medication usage.

KEYWORDS:

• Buprenorphine
• medications for opioid use disorder
• opioid use disorder
• social work
• stigma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Service Administration grant number M01HP31364; and University of Maryland School of Social Work DRIF award.