TY - JOUR
T1 - A new brief opioid stigma scale to assess perceived public attitudes and internalized stigma
T2 - Evidence for construct validity
AU - Yang, Lawrence H.
AU - Grivel, Margaux M.
AU - Anderson, Bradley
AU - Bailey, Genie L.
AU - Opler, Mark
AU - Wong, Liang Yi
AU - Stein, Michael D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2019/4
Y1 - 2019/4
N2 - One key strategy to improve treatment access for persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) is overcoming stigma that is internalized by such individuals. Because few theoretically-derived, multidimensional measures of substance abuse stigma exist, we contribute a brief, theoretically-based measure of opioid-related stigma (adapted from Corrigan's Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale) to assess perceived stigma and internalized stigma among individuals with OUD. This study presents initial validation of the newly-developed Brief Opioid Stigma Scale among 387 adults who entered an inpatient opioid managed-withdrawal program. The scale assesses: (1) Stereotype awareness (“Aware”), or the extent to which individuals who use opioids perceive community members to believe OUD-related stereotypes; (2) Stereotype agreement (“Agree”), or the endorsement of stigmatizing beliefs by individuals who use opioids; (3) Self-esteem decrement (“Harm”), or the diminution of self-esteem due to these negative stereotypes’ impacts on self-worth. Psychosocial measures including self-esteem, depressive symptoms, mental and physical functioning, and desire for aftercare OUD medication treatment, were administered to assess construct validity. Results showed that greater endorsement of the “harm” stigma subscale was associated with greater depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, and poorer mental and physical functioning. The “aware” stigma subscale displayed similar overall patterns of associations with self-esteem and depression but to a lesser magnitude. The “aware” stigma subscale was positively associated with desire for aftercare methadone and naltrexone treatment, and the “harm” subscale was positively associated with desire for aftercare buprenorphine treatment. Results indicated good initial construct validity. Tailored stigma interventions are recommended for specific aftercare OUD medication treatments.
AB - One key strategy to improve treatment access for persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) is overcoming stigma that is internalized by such individuals. Because few theoretically-derived, multidimensional measures of substance abuse stigma exist, we contribute a brief, theoretically-based measure of opioid-related stigma (adapted from Corrigan's Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale) to assess perceived stigma and internalized stigma among individuals with OUD. This study presents initial validation of the newly-developed Brief Opioid Stigma Scale among 387 adults who entered an inpatient opioid managed-withdrawal program. The scale assesses: (1) Stereotype awareness (“Aware”), or the extent to which individuals who use opioids perceive community members to believe OUD-related stereotypes; (2) Stereotype agreement (“Agree”), or the endorsement of stigmatizing beliefs by individuals who use opioids; (3) Self-esteem decrement (“Harm”), or the diminution of self-esteem due to these negative stereotypes’ impacts on self-worth. Psychosocial measures including self-esteem, depressive symptoms, mental and physical functioning, and desire for aftercare OUD medication treatment, were administered to assess construct validity. Results showed that greater endorsement of the “harm” stigma subscale was associated with greater depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, and poorer mental and physical functioning. The “aware” stigma subscale displayed similar overall patterns of associations with self-esteem and depression but to a lesser magnitude. The “aware” stigma subscale was positively associated with desire for aftercare methadone and naltrexone treatment, and the “harm” subscale was positively associated with desire for aftercare buprenorphine treatment. Results indicated good initial construct validity. Tailored stigma interventions are recommended for specific aftercare OUD medication treatments.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jsat.2019.01.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jsat.2019.01.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 30797393
AN - SCOPUS:85060089765
SN - 0740-5472
VL - 99
SP - 44
EP - 51
JO - Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
JF - Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
ER -