Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSorsdahl, Katherineen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStein, Danen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMyers, Bronwynen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-30T09:35:50Z
dc.date.available2015-10-30T09:35:50Z
dc.date.issued2012en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND:Little research has examined attitudes towards people who use substances in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Therefore, the present study examined the attributions made by the general South African population about people who use substances and whether these attributions differ by the type of substance being used, the gender of the person using the substance, or the characteristics of the person making the attribution.METHOD:A convenience sample of 868 members of the general public was obtained through street-intercept methods. One of 8 vignettes portraying alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine or heroin, with either a male or female as the protagonist was presented to each respondent. Respondents' attitudes towards the specific cases were investigated. RESULTS: Respondents held equally negative views of the presented substances, with the exception of the cannabis vignette which was considered significantly less "dangerous" than the alcohol vignette. Respondents were more likely to offer "help" to women who use alcohol, but more likely to suggest "coercion into treatment" for men. Individuals who scored higher on the ASSIST were more likely to hold negative attitudes towards substance users and black African respondents were more likely to offer help to individuals who use substances. CONCLUSION: The stigma associated with substance use in South Africa is high and not necessarily dependent on the drug of choice. However, a range of factors, including gender of the substance user, and ethnicity of the rater, may impact on stigma. Interventions designed to strengthen mental health literacy and gender-focused anti-stigma campaigns may have the potential to increase treatment seeking behaviour.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSorsdahl, K., Stein, D., & Myers, B. (2012). Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender. <i>BMC Psychiatry</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14536en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSorsdahl, Katherine, Dan Stein, and Bronwyn Myers "Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender." <i>BMC Psychiatry</i> (2012) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14536en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSorsdahl, K., Stein, D. J., & Myers, B. (2012). Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender. BMC psychiatry, 12(1), 101.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Sorsdahl, Katherine AU - Stein, Dan AU - Myers, Bronwyn AB - BACKGROUND:Little research has examined attitudes towards people who use substances in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Therefore, the present study examined the attributions made by the general South African population about people who use substances and whether these attributions differ by the type of substance being used, the gender of the person using the substance, or the characteristics of the person making the attribution.METHOD:A convenience sample of 868 members of the general public was obtained through street-intercept methods. One of 8 vignettes portraying alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine or heroin, with either a male or female as the protagonist was presented to each respondent. Respondents' attitudes towards the specific cases were investigated. RESULTS: Respondents held equally negative views of the presented substances, with the exception of the cannabis vignette which was considered significantly less "dangerous" than the alcohol vignette. Respondents were more likely to offer "help" to women who use alcohol, but more likely to suggest "coercion into treatment" for men. Individuals who scored higher on the ASSIST were more likely to hold negative attitudes towards substance users and black African respondents were more likely to offer help to individuals who use substances. CONCLUSION: The stigma associated with substance use in South Africa is high and not necessarily dependent on the drug of choice. However, a range of factors, including gender of the substance user, and ethnicity of the rater, may impact on stigma. Interventions designed to strengthen mental health literacy and gender-focused anti-stigma campaigns may have the potential to increase treatment seeking behaviour. DA - 2012 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1471-244X-12-101 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Psychiatry LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2012 T1 - Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender TI - Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14536 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14536
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-12-101
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSorsdahl K, Stein D, Myers B. Negative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by gender. BMC Psychiatry. 2012; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14536.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBiomed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Healthen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2012 Sorsdahl et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Psychiatryen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpsychiatry/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherAlcoholen_ZA
dc.subject.otherDrugsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherStigmaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSubstance Abuseen_ZA
dc.titleNegative attributions towards people with substance use disorders in South Africa: Variation across substances and by genderen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Sorsdahl_Negative_attributions_substance_use_2012.pdf
Size:
209.66 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles