TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of Stigma Related to Perceived Risk for Coronavirus-19 Transmission Relative to the Other Stigmatized Conditions Opioid Use and Depression
AU - Okobi, Sandra
AU - Bergeria, Cecilia L.
AU - Huhn, Andrew S.
AU - Dunn, Kelly E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by R01DA042751, R34DA042926, and R01DA040644.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Okobi, Bergeria, Huhn and Dunn.
PY - 2022/3/11
Y1 - 2022/3/11
N2 - Background: The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic was initially characterized by misinformation and fear related to transmission that has been previously shown to produce stigma toward persons perceived to be at risk for transmission. This study evaluated perceptions toward scenarios with variable levels of perceived risk for COVID-19 acquisition, and compared stigma to COVID-19 to depression and opioid use disorder. Methods: Respondents (N = 280) from the United States completed a web-based survey 6 months after pandemic declaration. Questions included demographics and COVID-19 misconceptions, expected response to hypothetical scenarios with variable risk for COVID-19, and the Attribution Questionnaire-9 for COVID-19, depression, and opioid use disorder. Results: Participants had several COVID-19 misconceptions, including that opioids increased immunity (63.6%), persons were more susceptible based upon racial/ethnic background (63.2%), and underlying health conditions did not influence risk (58.9%). Respondents were highly likely (64/100) to assume someone coughing had COVID-19 and the majority (93.5%) recommended quarantining persons with recent travel. However, the majority of respondents (>70% in all cases) also believed they would not change their COVID-19-related behavior when interacting with persons of different racial, ethnic, and age backgrounds. Finally, persons with COVID-19 engendered greater pity, less fear, less blame, less anger, and more willingness to help from respondents relative to persons with opioid use disorder. Conclusion: Stigma ratings toward persons perceived at risk of transmitting COVID-19, collected soon after the onset of the pandemic, showed less evidence of stigma relative to persons with opioid use disorder despite pronounced misconceptions regarding COVID-19 risk. Data provide a foundation for additional research in this area.
AB - Background: The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic was initially characterized by misinformation and fear related to transmission that has been previously shown to produce stigma toward persons perceived to be at risk for transmission. This study evaluated perceptions toward scenarios with variable levels of perceived risk for COVID-19 acquisition, and compared stigma to COVID-19 to depression and opioid use disorder. Methods: Respondents (N = 280) from the United States completed a web-based survey 6 months after pandemic declaration. Questions included demographics and COVID-19 misconceptions, expected response to hypothetical scenarios with variable risk for COVID-19, and the Attribution Questionnaire-9 for COVID-19, depression, and opioid use disorder. Results: Participants had several COVID-19 misconceptions, including that opioids increased immunity (63.6%), persons were more susceptible based upon racial/ethnic background (63.2%), and underlying health conditions did not influence risk (58.9%). Respondents were highly likely (64/100) to assume someone coughing had COVID-19 and the majority (93.5%) recommended quarantining persons with recent travel. However, the majority of respondents (>70% in all cases) also believed they would not change their COVID-19-related behavior when interacting with persons of different racial, ethnic, and age backgrounds. Finally, persons with COVID-19 engendered greater pity, less fear, less blame, less anger, and more willingness to help from respondents relative to persons with opioid use disorder. Conclusion: Stigma ratings toward persons perceived at risk of transmitting COVID-19, collected soon after the onset of the pandemic, showed less evidence of stigma relative to persons with opioid use disorder despite pronounced misconceptions regarding COVID-19 risk. Data provide a foundation for additional research in this area.
KW - COVID-19
KW - depression
KW - opioid
KW - opioid use disorder
KW - stigma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127619112&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85127619112&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.803998
DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.803998
M3 - Article
C2 - 35370839
AN - SCOPUS:85127619112
SN - 1664-0640
VL - 13
JO - Frontiers in Psychiatry
JF - Frontiers in Psychiatry
M1 - 803998
ER -