Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review

Background: Stigma of people with substance and non-substance use disorders (SNSUD) is a long-known phenomenon. The aim of this review was to assess the stigmatization, by health professionals, of people with SNSUD, its characteristics and change over time. Methods: A scoping review of literature re...

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Main Authors: Anthony Cazalis, Laura Lambert, Marc Auriacombe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-12-01
Series:Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000665
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author Anthony Cazalis
Laura Lambert
Marc Auriacombe
author_facet Anthony Cazalis
Laura Lambert
Marc Auriacombe
author_sort Anthony Cazalis
collection DOAJ
description Background: Stigma of people with substance and non-substance use disorders (SNSUD) is a long-known phenomenon. The aim of this review was to assess the stigmatization, by health professionals, of people with SNSUD, its characteristics and change over time. Methods: A scoping review of literature reviews was conducted with systematic search of PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO databases. Results: From the 19 selected reviews, all focused on people with SUD (PWSUD) only and 20 % to 51 % of health professionals had negative attitudes/beliefs about SUD. Addiction training and clinical experience with PWSUD were associated with a less negative attitude. Health professionals’ negative beliefs, lack of time or support were associated with less involvement in addiction care. Tobacco use disorder, SUDs other than alcohol and tobacco, relapse, psychiatric comorbidity or criminal records were associated with a more negative attitude. The influence of several variables potentially related to stigmatization was inconsistent across selected reviews. The evolution of stigmatization over time was not systematically assessed and showed mixed results. Conclusions: The stigmatization of PWSUD has an impact on their care, and a change in some variables could reduce its importance: moral model of addiction, health professionals’ negative beliefs, lack of training, time, and role support. Teaching what addiction is according to the medical chronic disease model, and developing stigma-focused training could improve caregivers’ attitudes and further reduce stigma. Further studies are needed to determine whether stigma of PWSUD by health professionals has changed over time and to characterize stigma for people with non-substance use disorders.
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spelling doaj.art-6579ebf206f34c4d94169541d2360d422023-12-17T06:43:40ZengElsevierDrug and Alcohol Dependence Reports2772-72462023-12-019100196Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping reviewAnthony Cazalis0Laura Lambert1Marc Auriacombe2University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Team, Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, (Sanpsy), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) 6033, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Pôle interétablissement d'Addictologie, CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, FranceUniversity of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Team, Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, (Sanpsy), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) 6033, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Pôle interétablissement d'Addictologie, CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, FranceUniversity of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Addiction Team, Sleep, Addiction and Neuropsychiatry, (Sanpsy), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) 6033, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Pôle interétablissement d'Addictologie, CH Charles Perrens and CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Corresponding author: Marc Auriacombe, Pôle interétablissement d'Addictologie, CHCP, 121, rue de la Béchade, 33076 Bordeaux cedex, France.Background: Stigma of people with substance and non-substance use disorders (SNSUD) is a long-known phenomenon. The aim of this review was to assess the stigmatization, by health professionals, of people with SNSUD, its characteristics and change over time. Methods: A scoping review of literature reviews was conducted with systematic search of PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO databases. Results: From the 19 selected reviews, all focused on people with SUD (PWSUD) only and 20 % to 51 % of health professionals had negative attitudes/beliefs about SUD. Addiction training and clinical experience with PWSUD were associated with a less negative attitude. Health professionals’ negative beliefs, lack of time or support were associated with less involvement in addiction care. Tobacco use disorder, SUDs other than alcohol and tobacco, relapse, psychiatric comorbidity or criminal records were associated with a more negative attitude. The influence of several variables potentially related to stigmatization was inconsistent across selected reviews. The evolution of stigmatization over time was not systematically assessed and showed mixed results. Conclusions: The stigmatization of PWSUD has an impact on their care, and a change in some variables could reduce its importance: moral model of addiction, health professionals’ negative beliefs, lack of training, time, and role support. Teaching what addiction is according to the medical chronic disease model, and developing stigma-focused training could improve caregivers’ attitudes and further reduce stigma. Further studies are needed to determine whether stigma of PWSUD by health professionals has changed over time and to characterize stigma for people with non-substance use disorders.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000665StigmaBeliefsAttitude of health professionalsHealth professionalsSubstance use disorderNon-substance use disorders, addiction
spellingShingle Anthony Cazalis
Laura Lambert
Marc Auriacombe
Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports
Stigma
Beliefs
Attitude of health professionals
Health professionals
Substance use disorder
Non-substance use disorders, addiction
title Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
title_full Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
title_fullStr Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
title_short Stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals: Current knowledge. A scoping review
title_sort stigmatization of people with addiction by health professionals current knowledge a scoping review
topic Stigma
Beliefs
Attitude of health professionals
Health professionals
Substance use disorder
Non-substance use disorders, addiction
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724623000665
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