ABSTRACT
Objective:
to analyze the attitudes of residents in an urban commune of Concepción, Chile towards people with drug abuse according to drug type, personal experience and socio-demographic variables.
Method:
descriptive and cross-sectional study that examines the attitude of 121 people of five census districts of commune of Concepción, Chile, regarding who has abuse of four types of drugs: alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and base paste, and its relation with socio-demographic variables, personal experience, drug type, using the Multidimensional Inventory of Attitudes.
Results:
ambivalent attitudes are observed towards those who abuses of alcohol and marijuana; on the other hand, attitude is negative towards those who abuse of cocaine and base paste. Female gender and religiosity were significantly associated with negative attitudes and young adults presented more ambivalent and less negative attitudes than middle-aged adults and older did. Personal experience is significantly related only if people that abuse of marijuana and cocaine are known.
Conclusion:
it is concluded that ambivalent and negative attitudes prevail towards people who abuse of drugs, what constitutes an obstacle to access treatment and social integration. It is necessary to keep investigating about attitudes, social distance and personal contact in order to elaborate strategies that allow to address stigma and discrimination towards those who present drug abuse in Chile
DESCRIPTORS
Attitudes; Knowledge; Behaviors; Health practices; Substance-related disorders; Adults