Attitudes of healthcare professionals toward individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders: A comparative study

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DEMİRCİ S. C., Menkü B. E., AŞIK U. B., Aksoy N., Öztürk Z. S., ARIKAN Z.

Addicta: the Turkish Journal on Addictions, cilt.13, sa.2, ss.167-174, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)

Özet

Stigmatizing attitudes held by healthcare professionals toward individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD) can hinder access to care and negatively affect treatment outcomes. Clinical experience may play a key role in shaping these attitudes. This cross-sectional study included 230 healthcare professionals, 96 of whom had experience in addiction treatment centers and 134 who worked in general medical settings. Participants completed three validated instruments: the Alcohol Use Disorder Stigma Scale, the Substance Use Disorder Stigma Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Individuals Using Addictive Substances Scale. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to assess group differences. Professionals with addiction treatment experience exhibited significantly lower levels of stigma and negative attitudes. Alcohol-related stigma scores were 52.40 (SD = 17.71) for experienced professionals and 74.21 (SD = 19.06) for those without experience (t(228) =-8.81, p < .001). For substance-related stigma, the scores were 74.33 (SD = 24.25) vs. 97.05 (SD = 18.76) (t(228) =-8.01, p < .001). Negative attitude scores toward addictive substance users were also lower in the experienced group: 77.38 (SD = 20.42) vs. 97.05 (SD = 21.06) (t(228) =-7.07, p < .001). Direct clinical experience with individuals affected by ASUD is associated with reduced stigma among healthcare professionals. Integrating supervised clinical exposure into healthcare education may be an effective strategy to reduce stigma and improve the quality of addiction care.