However, among labeled persons, there was a significantly stronger inverse relationship between PAS and social support. As such, our findings are in line with mental illness research on stigma and social support (Livingston and Boyd 2010), but differ from a prior study of perceived substance use stigma in a SUD treatment sample, where no association was found (Luoma et al. 2010). As in our study, others have reported an interaction between stigma and labeling status when examining hypothesized stigma coping orientations and consequences (Kroska and Harkness 2006; Link et al. 1997; Link et al. 1989; Link et al. 1991). Our findings suggest that the alcohol-adapted PDD may be adequate to test propositions of modified labeling theory as applied to the study of alcohol stigma. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine the directionality of the relationship between alcohol stigma and social support.
