Future research directions are numerous. Now that a quantitative measure of perceived stigma exists, researchers may more easily quantify the size of the relationship between perceived stigma and its role as a barrier to treatment attendance. Alternately, this measure could be used in studies of interventions intended to reduce stigma among those with addiction. One component of self-stigma is the fear of perceived stigma (Luoma et al., 2007), while a common intervention is education. It is possible that stigma education interventions could actually result in higher levels of perceived stigma, potentially increasing the sense of self-stigma and possibly impeding recovery. This measure could now be used to test such a hypothesis.
