Abstract
IntroductionSocial isolation and alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD) have been identified as global health risks. Social support is protective against developing ASUD and is associated with beneficial addiction treatment outcomes. Socially stigmatized populations are at higher risk of both social isolation and ASUD, and the link between social support and substance use in these populations has been less researched than in general substance-using populations. We hypothesized that perceived social support, as measured by the Social Provisions Scale (SPS), would have an inverse relationship with frequency of substance use, from subsections of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) that estimate use over the past 30 days and over an individual's lifetime. MethodsUsing a cross-sectional design, we conducted secondary correlational analyses with pre-existing data to test our hypothesis in two separate samples made up of socially marginalized populations entering ASUD treatment programs. Sample 1: substance-using male prison inmates (n = 72, average age = 30.79) and Sample 2: primary methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men (n = 86, average age = 43.41). ResultsSignificant negative correlations were found between SPS and lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis (rs − 0.27, −0.39, −0.26; p-values 0.04, 0.001, 0.04, respectively) in Sample 1 and 30-day use of methamphetamine (rs − 0.28; p-value 0.008) in Sample 2. DiscussionDifferences in results between the samples (lifetime vs 30-day use) may reflect psychosocial and contextual differences impacting perceived social support. Our findings provide support for an important link between perceived social support and frequency of substance use in socially stigmatized populations.
Highlights
Social isolation and alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD) have been identified as global health risks
The results of our analyses of two separate samples entering substance use treatment are mixed in relation to the hypothesis that perceived social support is inversely related to substance use frequency
In line with our hypothesis, perceived social support for prison inmates was inversely correlated with lifetime alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use, and perceived social support for MSM was inversely correlated with 30-day methamphetamine use
Summary
Loneliness and social isolation are public health concerns with mortality risks comparable to those of alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD; Holt-Lunstad, Smith, Baker, Harris, & Stephenson, 2015), and large-scale deficits in social connection are thought to play a role in the rising prevalence of ASUD (Alexander, 2012). The Social Identity Model of Recovery (SIMOR; Best et al, 2016) and the Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance (SIMCM; Frings & Albery, 2015), characterize the shift from addiction to recovery as an overall increase in social connectedness and a shift in the composition of social networks from substance-using peers to non-using peers, which reflects an important transition in social identity (Bathish, Savic, Beckwith, Mackenzie, & Lubman, 2017; Best et al, 2016) Marginalized social identities, such as individuals with a history of incarceration or LGBTQ individuals, are vulnerable to experiencing insufficient social support We hypothesize that perceived social support, as measured by the SPS, of these socially stigmatized populations will be inversely related to 30-day and lifetime frequency of substance use prior to entering addiction treatment
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