Following prior research (Glass et al., 2013), we inferred labeling status (0 = unlabeled, 1 = labeled) through the receipt of alcohol treatment or having a perceived unmet need for alcohol treatment based on assessments at W1 and W2. Perceived unmet need for treatment was assessed with the question, “Was there ever a time when you thought that you should see a doctor, counselor, or other health professional or seek any other help for your drinking, but you didn’t go?” In research on the stigma of serious mental illness, labeled status has been inferred through the receipt of treatment, under the assumption that receipt of a psychiatric diagnosis results in social labeling. In order to fully capture labeled status, we also included perceived unmet need for treatment in our definition to recognize that labeled status may exist on a continuum that includes self-labeling (Moses, 2009; Thoits, 1985) and very few individuals with AUDs receive treatment (Cohen et al., 2007).
