Views of addiction etiology predict religious individuals’ willingness to help.

Abstract

Views of addiction etiology predict religious individuals’ willingness to help.

Emily Brady, Valerie Hoots, Joseph Barnet, and Andrea Clements, Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is an accrescent societal problem. Individuals with substance addiction face stigma in their daily lives, specifically from religious individuals as explored in this study. The stigma these religious individuals might portray could be related to their ideas on addiction etiology. The purpose of this project is to evaluate if different views of addiction etiology predict religious individuals’ willingness to help individuals with substance addition. Our hypothesis for this sample consists of two parts. (1) Religious individuals who hold the belief of a moral etiology of addiction will be less willing to help individuals with substance addiction. (2) Religious individuals who hold the ideology of a physical etiology of addiction will be less willing to help individuals with substance addiction. A survey, which contained the Addiction Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (AABS) and the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use Tool (TAPS), was administered to a sample of 215 individuals recruited through social media advertising via Facebook and Reddit platforms, email, and East Tennessee State University’s SONA research portal. Results showed significance in beliefs of moral etiology and willingness to help across religious individuals. One limitation for this project is a lack of generalizability due to the majority of participants being female (73.6%) and white (92.1%). Another limitation is that the measure is based on self-report, and given the sensitivity on the topic, individuals may not be willing to report accurately.