TY - JOUR
T1 - Negative impacts of self-stigma on the quality of life of patients in methadone maintenance treatment
T2 - The mediated roles of psychological distress and social functioning
AU - Cheng, Ching Ming
AU - Chang, Chih Cheng
AU - Wang, Jung Der
AU - Chang, Kun Chia
AU - Ting, Shuo Yen
AU - Lin, Chung Ying
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - A sample of heroin users (n = 250) in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was used in this cross-sectional study to clarify the mechanisms of the effects of stigma on quality of life (QoL) through psychological distress and social functioning. All the participants had their self-stigma, psychological distress, social functioning, and QoL measured. Psychological distress and social functioning were proposed to be mediators between self-stigma and QoL. Several linear models using structural equation modeling were conducted to examine the mediated effects. The negative effects of self-stigma on QoL were significantly mediated by psychological distress, as self-stigma directly and significantly influenced psychological distress, but not social functioning. This study demonstrated a linear model describing the effects of self-stigma on QoL for opioid-dependent individuals; psychological distress was also an important mediator between self-stigma and their QoL. Clinicians were able to notice the importance of reducing self-stigma for opioid-dependent individuals according to the following results: higher levels of self-stigma were associated with high psychological distress, decreased social functioning, and impaired QoL. Our mediation findings suggest that treating psychological distress is better than treating social functioning if we want to eliminate the effects of self-stigma on QoL for heroin users.
AB - A sample of heroin users (n = 250) in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was used in this cross-sectional study to clarify the mechanisms of the effects of stigma on quality of life (QoL) through psychological distress and social functioning. All the participants had their self-stigma, psychological distress, social functioning, and QoL measured. Psychological distress and social functioning were proposed to be mediators between self-stigma and QoL. Several linear models using structural equation modeling were conducted to examine the mediated effects. The negative effects of self-stigma on QoL were significantly mediated by psychological distress, as self-stigma directly and significantly influenced psychological distress, but not social functioning. This study demonstrated a linear model describing the effects of self-stigma on QoL for opioid-dependent individuals; psychological distress was also an important mediator between self-stigma and their QoL. Clinicians were able to notice the importance of reducing self-stigma for opioid-dependent individuals according to the following results: higher levels of self-stigma were associated with high psychological distress, decreased social functioning, and impaired QoL. Our mediation findings suggest that treating psychological distress is better than treating social functioning if we want to eliminate the effects of self-stigma on QoL for heroin users.
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph16071299
DO - 10.3390/ijerph16071299
M3 - Article
C2 - 30978986
AN - SCOPUS:85064806645
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 16
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 7
M1 - 1299
ER -