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

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are one of the most stigmatized health conditions that impact drug user's treatment engagement. However, to date, little is known about perceived stigma and its correlates with psychological factors among high-risk groups such as people with SUDs in the criminal justice system. This study aimed to determine the association of psychological factors and perceived stigma of addiction among women with SUDs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional design was conducted on 652 women with SUDs who were treated in all 7 compulsory drug detention centers in Thailand with consecutive sampling technique. The data were collected by standardized interviewers with interviewing questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression was applied to examine the effect of psychological factors and perceived stigma. 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% had low level of perceived social support, and the average perceived stress score was 19.2 (standard deviation, 7.5). The perceived stigma was positively related to depressive symptom and perceived stress 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 for identifying which patients are most at risk of perceived stigma and are the potential targets of intervention to reduce stigma in clinical practice.