Understanding the factor structure of the public stigma of substance use disorder

Abstract

Few empirical research studies have examined the public stigma of substance use disorder (SUD) compared to mental illness (MI). Expanding on the results of a qualitative study on the stigma of SUD, this study quantitatively examined items thought to represent the three constructs of public stigma: stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. Additionally, exploratory factor analyses generated factor structures to provide meaning to each construct. Results indicated that some factors were endorsed significantly higher than others: for stereotypes, recklessness and threat were significantly endorsed more than unreliability and inadequacy; for prejudice, dread was endorsed the most; and for discrimination, restriction was endorsed more than invalidation. Additional oneway ANOVAs revealed that women significantly endorsed restriction more than men. Although further research is needed to confirm a complete set of factors, these results may help to establish a model for the public stigma of people with SUD.

Keywords:

• Substance use disorder
• addiction
• public stigma
• stereotypes
• prejudice
• discrimination

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Addiction Stigma CBPR Research Team for their involvement on the previous qualitative project in which the stigma candidates were identified. The Addiction Stigma CBPR Research Team includes Sonya Ballentine, Illinois Institute of Technology; Marvin Bornschlegl, Oakton Community College; Kathleen Kane-Willis, Roosevelt University; Dana Kraus, Deborah’s Place; Patsy Nichols; Al Pizza, Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities; Valery Shuman, Heartland Alliance; Rex Tai, Northwestern University.

Disclosure statement

The authors on this manuscript, including the Addiction Stigma Research Team, do not have any conflicts of interests regarding this research manuscript or this submission.