As stigma pertains to alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and more broadly to substance use disorders (SUDs), socially constructed labels such as alcoholic or addict evoke stereotypes of being unpredictable, dangerous, irresponsible, of bad character, and at fault for one’s illness (Crisp et al. 2000). Public stigma, defined as the general public’s evaluations and reactions towards persons with stigmatized conditions (Corrigan and Watson 2002), is particularly negative for AUDs. In fact, attitudes towards persons with AUDs appear to be worse than the attitudes towards depression or schizophrenia (Schomerus et al. 2010). Increasing attention has been given to the consequences of stigma for persons with AUDs, including the development of standardized measures to assess the degree to which affected persons suffer from stigma (Fortney et al. 2004; Keyes et al. 2010; Luoma et al. 2010; Schomerus et al. 2011; Smith et al. 2010).
