An initial pool of 12 items was created by modifying the discrimination–devaluation measure perceived by Link et al. (1997) to refer to “someone who has been treated for substance use” instead of mental illness. The content validity of the preliminary scale was assessed by ratings of seven experts. Expert raters were considered to be professionals who had previously published an article in a peer-reviewed journal on the stigma of substance abuse. An electronic bibliography search identified a total of 23 such experts for whom e-mail addresses could be obtained.
