What's In A Label? The Effects of Substance Types and Labels on Treatment Considerations and Stigma

Author(s)

John A. Cunningham, University of TorontoFollow
Linda C. Sobell, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Virginia M. Chow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1993

Publication Title

Journal of Studies on Alcohol

Volume

54

Issue/Number

6

First Page

693

ISSN

0096-882X

Last Page

699

Abstract/Excerpt

Visitors (N = 579) to a science center read selected scenarios and evaluated the most likely outcome for a hypothetical substance abuser. Respondents were randomly assigned to one of six scenario conditions: a person with one of three different substance abuse problems (alcohol, tobacco, or cocaine) was crossed with two labels reflecting high or low substance dependence. Results indicated that: (1) cigarettes were viewed as a less serious substance abuse problem than were alcohol or cocaine (a person who smoked cigarettes was rated as more likely to recover from his problem, self-change was regarded as more appropriate and less stigma was associated with smoking than with the other two drugs); (2) non-abstinent recoveries of all types were greeted with skepticism; and (3) recovery was rated as more likely to occur from treatment than from self-change.

NSUWorks Citation

Cunningham, J. A., Sobell, L. C., Chow, V. M. (1993). What's In A Label? The Effects of Substance Types and Labels on Treatment Considerations and Stigma. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 54(6), 693-699.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/798