Abstract
Death by suicide and opioid overdose has been associated with negative stigmatization. It is important to investigate whether a suicide death and a fatal opioid overdose share similar stigmatized reactions and how attitudes shape the public willingness to intervene in prevention and treatment efforts. Respondents were recruited for an online survey through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to either respond to questions about suicide or opioid overdose death. Measurements included respondents’ attitudes toward suicide and opioid overdose decedents and their willingness to intervene. Results revealed that respondents were significantly more willing to intervene in a hypothetical case of a person at risk for suicide. There was greater stigmatization of individuals who died by opioid overdose compared to suicide. Considering that there remains little information about the complexities of stigma toward suicide and overdose, learning more about attitudes toward overdose deaths can also help us better understand how to change attitudes about individuals with substance use disorder.
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This research was funded by the University of Kentucky College of Social Work.
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The University of Kentucky College of Social Work provided funding for this study. Funding was used to compensate participants for their time in completing the study.
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The lead author, Athena Kheibari, was responsible for formulating the research questions, designing and implementing the study, and analyzing the data. Julie Cerel helps contribute to the study conceptualization and design, as well as to the manuscript preparation. Grant Victor helps in reviewing the data and contributed to the manuscript preparation.
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All study procedures involving human participants were approved by and in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Kentucky Institutional Research Review Board. Before completing the study, participants were informed about the protocol and gave voluntary consent electronically.
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Kheibari, A., Cerel, J. & Victor, G. Comparing Attitudes Toward Stigmatized Deaths: Suicide and Opioid Overdose Deaths. Int J Ment Health Addiction 20, 2291–2305 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00514-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00514-1