Beliefs about Causes of Substance Abuse: A Comparison of Three Drugs

Author(s)

John A. Cunningham, University of TorontoFollow
Linda C. Sobell, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Jonathan L. Freedman, University of Toronto
Mark B. Sobell, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1994

Publication Title

Journal of Substance Abuse

Volume

6

Issue/Number

2

First Page

219

ISSN

0899-3289

Last Page

226

Abstract/Excerpt

Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and completed a questionnaire asking about their beliefs regarding the causes of alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse, or cigarette smoking, and about their humanitarian attitudes toward substance abusers. Three major findings emerged: (a) compared to the other substances of abuse, the disease concept was most strongly endorsed for alcohol abuse, the sin conception for cocaine abuse, and the habit conception for smoking; (b) for alcohol abuse only, endorsement of the disease concept was positively related to humanitarian attitudes; and (c) for all three substance types, the sin conception was negatively related to the expression of humanitarian attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed.

DOI

10.1016/S0899-3289(94)90241-0

NSUWorks Citation

Cunningham, J. A., Sobell, L. C., Freedman, J. L., Sobell, M. B. (1994). Beliefs about Causes of Substance Abuse: A Comparison of Three Drugs. Journal of Substance Abuse, 6(2), 219-226.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/767