The Internalized Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale for Caregivers: Measuring Substance Use Stigma Experienced by Caregivers

Caregivers of young adult children with substance use disorders (SUDs) experience caregiving burden because of the strains and tensions associated with the role. Exposure to stigmatizing attitudes through social experiences can lead to the internalization of these negative beliefs about the self and others. In the case of caregivers providing support to loved ones with SUDs, further inquiry is warranted to better understand the synergistic impacts of the stresses and strains associated with providing care and the stigma associated with that care. Further research is needed to investigate how internalized stigma for caregivers of substance using loved ones is assessed and measured so that it can be tested. The present study presents an adaptation of the Internalized Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale (ISSA) for use with caregivers and describes the resulting psychometric properties of the revised measure. Results support an adapted measure specifically for caregivers, called the Internalized Stigma of Substance Abuse Scale for Caregivers (ISSA-C), and suggest that the scale is unidimensional and shows preliminary indications of construct validity and internal consistency.