Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2025

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence
Published on: March 23, 2022
Relationships Between Stigma, Risk Tolerance, and Buprenorphine Dispensing Intentions Among Community-Based
Alysson E Light1, Traci C Green2, Patricia R Freeman3
1University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Background:
Concerns have been raised that pharmacists sometimes act as barriers to patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) accessing buprenorphine treatment. The present research explores how community pharmacists' endorsement (vs non-endorsement) of stigmatizing beliefs about patients taking buprenorphine relate to intentions, comfort, and decisions regarding dispensing buprenorphine for OUD. In addition, we assessed attitudes toward risk in pharmacy practice as a novel correlate of dispensing intentions and decisions.
Methods:
A sample of 207 active community-based pharmacists practicing in the United States responded to survey items measuring stigma, risk tolerance, and intentions to dispense buprenorphine. The survey included 2 vignettes in which patients presented to the pharmacy with a prescription for buprenorphine, and respondents rated their comfort with dispensing and decisions regarding dispensing in the vignette.
Results:
Results suggest that both stigma toward patients taking buprenorphine to treat OUD and tolerance for risk in pharmacy settings are related to differences in pharmacists' intentions to and willingness to dispense buprenorphine for OUD.
Conclusions:
Findings support the need for interventions to reduce stigma associated with buprenorphine use among pharmacists and suggest that risk tolerance is an important determinant of pharmacists' behavior that merits further study.
More Related Videos
09:29Investigating Drivers of Antireward in Addiction Behavior with Anatomically Specific Single-Cell Gene Expression Methods
Published on: August 4, 2022
05:40The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Drug Dependence
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Factors Affecting Dissolution: Drug Permeability, Stability and Stereochemistry
Drug Distribution: Tissue Binding
For...
Factors Affecting Drug Response: Overview