Rundle Samantha M, Goldstein Abby L, Wardell Jeffrey D, Cunningham John A, Rehm Jürgen, Hendershot Christian S
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Associate Professor, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada.
Addict Res Theory. 2025;33(2):143-149. doi: 10.1080/16066359.2024.2365156. Epub 2024 Jun 21.
The stigmatization of addiction has been identified as a barrier to treatment-seeking among individuals with substance use concerns. Although some evidence exists that beliefs in different models of addiction (MOAs) are associated with stigma, the research is limited in several ways. The aim of the current study is to understand the relationship between different MOAs and public stigma toward substance use disorders and behavioural addictions.
Participants were 755 adults who completed an online survey on MTurk (Mage = 36.2, SD = 10.1, 40.3% women, 59.4% men) and were randomized to one of four vignette conditions describing an individual with alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, problem gambling disorder, or diabetes. Participants completed measures assessing perceived stigma towards the vignette character and beliefs related to five MOAs (disease, moral, psychological, sociological, nature).
Stigma ratings were significantly higher in the alcohol and opioid use disorder conditions compared to the problem gambling and diabetes conditions. Greater beliefs in the disease MOA were associated with greater stigma in the problem gambling condition, whereas greater beliefs in the moral MOA were associated with greater stigma in all addiction conditions. Greater beliefs in the psychological MOA were associated with lower stigma in the opioid use disorder and problem gambling conditions.
The current study provides further support that addictive disorders are more stigmatized than other health disorders and suggests that beliefs in specific MOAs are differentially associated with stigma. Interventions addressing addiction stigma may consider incorporating information emphasizing MOAs that are less stigmatizing.
成瘾的污名化已被视为物质使用问题个体寻求治疗的障碍。尽管有一些证据表明，对不同成瘾模型（MOA）的信念与污名有关，但该研究在几个方面存在局限性。本研究的目的是了解不同MOA与公众对物质使用障碍和行为成瘾的污名之间的关系。
参与者为755名成年人，他们在MTurk上完成了一项在线调查（年龄中位数 = 36.2，标准差 = 10.1，女性占40.3%，男性占59.4%），并被随机分配到四个 vignette 条件之一，这些条件描述了患有酒精使用障碍、阿片类药物使用障碍、问题赌博障碍或糖尿病的个体。参与者完成了评估对 vignette 角色的感知污名以及与五种MOA（疾病、道德、心理、社会学、自然）相关信念的测量。
与问题赌博和糖尿病条件相比，酒精和阿片类药物使用障碍条件下的污名评分显著更高。在问题赌博条件下，对疾病MOA的信念越强，污名越大；而在所有成瘾条件下，对道德MOA的信念越强，污名越大。在阿片类药物使用障碍和问题赌博条件下，对心理MOA的信念越强，污名越低。
本研究进一步支持了成瘾性障碍比其他健康障碍更容易受到污名化的观点，并表明对特定MOA的信念与污名的关联存在差异。解决成瘾污名的干预措施可能会考虑纳入强调污名较小的MOA的信息。
