Nursing students' perceptions of substance abusers: The effect of social status on stigma

The stigma associated with drug addiction in the U.S. has been found to be a deterrent for individuals seeking treatment (SAMHSA, 2013). This experimental vignette study examined substance abuse stigma toward a hypothetical heroin addict ("John") in a sample of 62 nursing students who were given different occupational information about John to manipulate their perceptions of his social status. Each study participant read one of three vignettes in which John was portrayed as high-status (mayor of a large city), low-status (restaurant table busser), or unspecified status (no occupational information provided). Findings indicated that high social status resulted in significantly less substance abuse stigma than low social status. There was no significant difference in substance abuse stigma between the low-status condition and the condition in which social status was unspecified. This supports the conclusion that knowledge of John's heroin addiction effectively established his social status as low. The study also showed that the fact of John's addiction alone outweighed contradictory occupational information in determining his perceived social status.