Beliefs about the causes of substance abuse: a comparison of three drugs.
Respondents were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and completed a questionnaire asking about their beliefs regarding the causes of alcohol abuse, cocaine abuse, or cigarette smoking, and about their humanitarian attitudes toward substance abusers. Three major findings emerged: (a) compared to the other substances of abuse, the disease concept was most strongly endorsed for alcohol abuse, the sin conception for cocaine abuse, and the habit conception for smoking; (b) for alcohol abuse only, endorsement of the disease concept was positively related to humanitarian attitudes; and (c) for all three substance types, the sin conception was negatively related to the expression of humanitarian attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Cunningham
J A
JA
Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sobell
L C
LC
Freedman
J L
JL
Sobell
M B
MB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D000533:Altruism; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003042:Cocaine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*
D003042:Cocaine