Series: Breaking the Stigma
Series: Breaking the Stigma
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Substance use disorders (SUD) are among the most highly stigmatized conditions in the world. Individuals’ perceptions of those with SUD affects not only how they are treated day-to-day, but also local and national policies impacting ability to access treatment and other resources such as employment and housing.
“Behavioral addictions” are also important to understand in this context as their coverage in the popular press and in scientific studies has increased dramatically during the past 15 years. These are behaviors (e.g,. gambling, sexual activity, eating) with potentially pleasant short-term effects in which people might continue to engage despite negative consequences.
Thege and colleagues surveyed individuals from Alberta, Canada to extend current research on SUD perceptions and stigma, and to elucidate similarities and differences between public perception of substance-related and behavioral addictions.
Respondents were randomly assigned to report on their perceptions of a single problem such that only 400 individuals reported on their perceptions for each problem. Respondents rated perceived addiction liability and several etiological factors using a scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely) to answer whether the problem behavior might be caused by one of the following: “character problem or flaw”, “chemical imbalance in the brain”, “genetic or inherited problem”, “the way a person was raised”, “exposure to traumatic events in early childhood”, and “stressful circumstances in a person’s life”. Sample demographics were: 64% female; 24% under 34, 47% between 35 and 54; and 30% over 55; 17% had a high school diploma, 23% some college, and 26% with a college or post-secondary diploma; 68% were married, 17% single, 13% separated divorced, and 3% widowed; 90% employed or retired, 7% unemployed, and 3% were students; 28% had an annual household income of $100,000+ while between 5 and 11% of respondents had household incomes in one of several $10,000 income ranges (e.g., $50,000-59,999).
Character problem, chemical imbalance, childhood upbringing, and stressful circumstances were each rated as having greater relevance to substance-related versus behavioral addictions.
Notably, authors did not compare the various etiologies, but based on graphical depictions, respondents perceived “current stressful circumstances” as having the greatest causal impact on having a substance or behavior-related problem (mean of 4.11 out of 5), while genetic factors had the smallest causal impact (mean of 2.97 out of 5). Regarding genetics in particular, alcohol was rated highest (mean of approximately 4 out of 5) and marijuana rated lowest (mean of approximately 2.5 out of 5).
This study was unique in its focus on behavioral addictions. As the field learns more about the nature of behavioral addictions, understanding perceptions and stigma of such problems will also be important. The study also extends other research on perceptions of substance use disorders to a Canadian sample.
Thege, B. K., Colman, I., el-Guebaly, N., Hodgins, D. C., Patten, S. B., Schopflocher, D., … & Wild, T. C. (2015). Social judgments of behavioral versus substance-related addictions: A population-based study. Addictive behaviors, 42, 24-31.
l
Substance use disorders (SUD) are among the most highly stigmatized conditions in the world. Individuals’ perceptions of those with SUD affects not only how they are treated day-to-day, but also local and national policies impacting ability to access treatment and other resources such as employment and housing.
“Behavioral addictions” are also important to understand in this context as their coverage in the popular press and in scientific studies has increased dramatically during the past 15 years. These are behaviors (e.g,. gambling, sexual activity, eating) with potentially pleasant short-term effects in which people might continue to engage despite negative consequences.
Thege and colleagues surveyed individuals from Alberta, Canada to extend current research on SUD perceptions and stigma, and to elucidate similarities and differences between public perception of substance-related and behavioral addictions.
Respondents were randomly assigned to report on their perceptions of a single problem such that only 400 individuals reported on their perceptions for each problem. Respondents rated perceived addiction liability and several etiological factors using a scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely) to answer whether the problem behavior might be caused by one of the following: “character problem or flaw”, “chemical imbalance in the brain”, “genetic or inherited problem”, “the way a person was raised”, “exposure to traumatic events in early childhood”, and “stressful circumstances in a person’s life”. Sample demographics were: 64% female; 24% under 34, 47% between 35 and 54; and 30% over 55; 17% had a high school diploma, 23% some college, and 26% with a college or post-secondary diploma; 68% were married, 17% single, 13% separated divorced, and 3% widowed; 90% employed or retired, 7% unemployed, and 3% were students; 28% had an annual household income of $100,000+ while between 5 and 11% of respondents had household incomes in one of several $10,000 income ranges (e.g., $50,000-59,999).
Character problem, chemical imbalance, childhood upbringing, and stressful circumstances were each rated as having greater relevance to substance-related versus behavioral addictions.
Notably, authors did not compare the various etiologies, but based on graphical depictions, respondents perceived “current stressful circumstances” as having the greatest causal impact on having a substance or behavior-related problem (mean of 4.11 out of 5), while genetic factors had the smallest causal impact (mean of 2.97 out of 5). Regarding genetics in particular, alcohol was rated highest (mean of approximately 4 out of 5) and marijuana rated lowest (mean of approximately 2.5 out of 5).
This study was unique in its focus on behavioral addictions. As the field learns more about the nature of behavioral addictions, understanding perceptions and stigma of such problems will also be important. The study also extends other research on perceptions of substance use disorders to a Canadian sample.
Thege, B. K., Colman, I., el-Guebaly, N., Hodgins, D. C., Patten, S. B., Schopflocher, D., … & Wild, T. C. (2015). Social judgments of behavioral versus substance-related addictions: A population-based study. Addictive behaviors, 42, 24-31.
l
Substance use disorders (SUD) are among the most highly stigmatized conditions in the world. Individuals’ perceptions of those with SUD affects not only how they are treated day-to-day, but also local and national policies impacting ability to access treatment and other resources such as employment and housing.
“Behavioral addictions” are also important to understand in this context as their coverage in the popular press and in scientific studies has increased dramatically during the past 15 years. These are behaviors (e.g,. gambling, sexual activity, eating) with potentially pleasant short-term effects in which people might continue to engage despite negative consequences.
Thege and colleagues surveyed individuals from Alberta, Canada to extend current research on SUD perceptions and stigma, and to elucidate similarities and differences between public perception of substance-related and behavioral addictions.
Respondents were randomly assigned to report on their perceptions of a single problem such that only 400 individuals reported on their perceptions for each problem. Respondents rated perceived addiction liability and several etiological factors using a scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 5 (very likely) to answer whether the problem behavior might be caused by one of the following: “character problem or flaw”, “chemical imbalance in the brain”, “genetic or inherited problem”, “the way a person was raised”, “exposure to traumatic events in early childhood”, and “stressful circumstances in a person’s life”. Sample demographics were: 64% female; 24% under 34, 47% between 35 and 54; and 30% over 55; 17% had a high school diploma, 23% some college, and 26% with a college or post-secondary diploma; 68% were married, 17% single, 13% separated divorced, and 3% widowed; 90% employed or retired, 7% unemployed, and 3% were students; 28% had an annual household income of $100,000+ while between 5 and 11% of respondents had household incomes in one of several $10,000 income ranges (e.g., $50,000-59,999).
Character problem, chemical imbalance, childhood upbringing, and stressful circumstances were each rated as having greater relevance to substance-related versus behavioral addictions.
Notably, authors did not compare the various etiologies, but based on graphical depictions, respondents perceived “current stressful circumstances” as having the greatest causal impact on having a substance or behavior-related problem (mean of 4.11 out of 5), while genetic factors had the smallest causal impact (mean of 2.97 out of 5). Regarding genetics in particular, alcohol was rated highest (mean of approximately 4 out of 5) and marijuana rated lowest (mean of approximately 2.5 out of 5).
This study was unique in its focus on behavioral addictions. As the field learns more about the nature of behavioral addictions, understanding perceptions and stigma of such problems will also be important. The study also extends other research on perceptions of substance use disorders to a Canadian sample.
Thege, B. K., Colman, I., el-Guebaly, N., Hodgins, D. C., Patten, S. B., Schopflocher, D., … & Wild, T. C. (2015). Social judgments of behavioral versus substance-related addictions: A population-based study. Addictive behaviors, 42, 24-31.
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