For more than 60 years sociologists have examined public attitudes toward persons with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), but there is little recent data on this topic. Using responses to vignettes administered in a 2003 national computer-assisted telephone survey (N = 1394) of employed Americans, this paper examines three research questions: (1) How willing are Americans to interact with persons with AUDs? (2) How are preferences for social distance shaped by known contact with a problem drinker? (3) How does treatment-seeking behavior of a known problem drinker influence such preferences? Results indicate that respondents are reluctant to interact with persons with AUDs, especially in the context of work and family life. Multivariate analyses reveal that respondents who knew a relative or coworker with a drinking problem were more likely to desire social distance from the alcohol dependent vignette person. Consistent with the social contact thesis, respondents who reported spending more time with a known problem drinker, were less likely to desire social distance from persons with AUDs, as were respondents who reported that the known problem drinker received treatment from a counselor, psychiatrist, or physician. These results suggest that stigma associated with AUDs may be decreased through formal treatment for AUDs, as well as by greater diffusion of knowledge about the positive effects of treatment.
Abraham, A. J., Bride, B. E., & Roman, P. M. (2013). Public Attitudes toward Persons with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs): The Role of Social Contact and Treatment-Seeking Behavior. Sociological Focus, 46(4), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380237.2013.825542
