Adolescent Behavioral Health Research Program, Indiana University, School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Public Health Department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, Maryland.
J Adolesc Health. 2021 Aug;69(2):321-328. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.12.142. Epub 2021 Feb 10.
A small fraction of people with opioid use disorder (OUD) receives appropriate care. Public opinion about addiction contributes to the availability and accessibility of effective treatment services. Little is known about such attitudes toward OUD among young adults, a population at heightened risk for OUD onset. The current study examined endorsement of social stigma, discrimination, and policy attitudes about OUD and hypothesized correlates of such attitudes (familiarity with OUD, criminal justice involvement, respondent demographic characteristics).
A national sample of 190 young adults (weighted n = 408; 69% female, 42% White, non-Hispanic) aged 19-29 years completed web and telephone surveys covering opioid social stigma, discrimination, policy attitudes, personal experience with opioids, and criminal justice, and participant characteristics (age, sex, race, education, employment, income). Linear regressions were performed to examine associations between respondent characteristics and attitudes.
Young adults, on average, endorsed moderate levels of stigma and discrimination toward people with OUD and support for treatment-oriented policies. Stigma was positively associated with discrimination and negatively associated with support for policies favorable to people with OUD. Regression results revealed that more negative attitudes toward OUD were endorsed as a function of older age and less personal experience or familiarity with OUD.
Heterogeneity in young adults' attitudes about OUD may be explained, in part, by personal characteristics and familiarity with OUD. Adolescence may be an opportune developmental period to prevent or reduce public stigma related to OUD and MOUD and increase public attitudes in support of expanded access to effective OUD treatments.
只有一小部分阿片类药物使用障碍（OUD）患者接受了适当的治疗。公众对成瘾的看法会影响到有效治疗服务的可及性。关于年轻人（阿片类药物使用障碍发病风险较高的人群）对 OUD 的这种态度，我们知之甚少。本研究考察了对 OUD 的社会污名、歧视和政策态度的支持程度，并假设了这些态度的相关因素（对 OUD 的熟悉程度、刑事司法涉入、受访者人口统计学特征）。
一项针对 190 名年龄在 19-29 岁的年轻成年人（加权 n=408；女性占 69%，白人非西班牙裔占 42%）的全国性样本，通过网络和电话调查了阿片类药物的社会污名、歧视、政策态度、个人阿片类药物使用经历和刑事司法情况，以及参与者特征（年龄、性别、种族、教育、就业、收入）。采用线性回归分析考察了受访者特征与态度之间的关联。
年轻成年人平均对 OUD 患者持中度的污名和歧视态度，并支持以治疗为导向的政策。污名与歧视呈正相关，与支持有利于 OUD 患者的政策呈负相关。回归结果表明，随着年龄的增长，对 OUD 的负面态度会增加，而个人对 OUD 的经历或熟悉程度会减少。
年轻人对 OUD 的态度存在异质性，部分原因可能是个人特征和对 OUD 的熟悉程度。青春期可能是预防或减少与 OUD 和 MOUD 相关的公众污名、增加公众对扩大获得有效 OUD 治疗支持的一个有利的发展时期。
