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.