Relationship between psychological factors and perceived stigma of addiction among women with substance use disorders, Thailand

نویسندگان

1 Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

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چکیده

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are one of the most stigmatized health conditionsthat impact drug user’s treatment engagement. However, to date, little is known about perceivedstigma and its correlates with psychological factors among high‑risk groups such as people withSUDs in the criminal justice system. This study aimed to determine the association of psychologicalfactors and perceived stigma of addiction among women with SUDs.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional design was conducted on 652 women with SUDswho were treated in all 7 compulsory drug detention centers in Thailand with consecutive samplingtechnique. The data were collected by standardized interviewers with interviewing questionnaire.Multiple logistic regression was applied to examine the effect of psychological factors and perceivedstigma.RESULTS: More than half of SUD patients (57.2%) were methamphetamine abuse or dependence,approximately 69.9% reported high level of perceived stigma, 56.7% had mild depression, 34.8% hadlow level of perceived social support, and the average perceived stress score was 19.2 (standarddeviation, 7.5). The perceived stigma was positively related to depressive symptom and perceivedstress while was inversely related to perceived social support.CONCLUSION: The psychological factors were strongly associated with perceived stigma of addiction.Thus, the detection of psychological problems among SUD patients may be benefit clinicians foridentifying which patients are most at risk of perceived stigma and are the potential targets ofintervention to reduce stigma in clinical practice.