Habilidades sociais e estigma internalizado em alcoolistas

Abstract

Alcoholism is a condition strongly stigmatized by the general population, which leads alcoholics to internalize their stigma and suffer alone the negative consequences of such phenomena. However, an adequate repertoire of social skills allows a person to expand its social network and support groups, minimizing the negative consequences of internalizing such stigma. Taking this into consideration, this current study sough to address three topics: (1) Evidences available through a review of scientific literature on alcoholics social skills deficit and how effective Social Skills Training (SST) is for the treatment of such condition; (2) characterization and comparison between social skills of alcoholics and non-alcoholics, and (3) description of the stigma internalized by alcoholics and its relationship to an individual’s social skills repertoire. In order to answer the first topic, a systematic review of the literature pertaining the subject was conducted, where 33 related studies were analyzed. Our findings indicate a lack of studies able to confirm deficits in alcoholic’s social skills repertoire. However, SST is considered an effective form of treatment for such condition. To address topics two and three, 123 alcoholics and 114 non-alcoholics were consulted by means of a structured interview, where the following instruments were utilized: a socio-demographic questionnaire, a Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, a Social Skills Inventory and Internalized stigma of mental illness – especially adapted to the brazilian population dependent on such substances. A quantitative analysis of the collected data indicates an actual difference between alcoholics and non-alcoholics in terms of their anger management abilities, showing alcoholics to be more aggressive than nonalcoholics. Moreover, a negative correlation was also found between internalized stigma and social skills, where the ability to socialize and conversation skills stand out as significant contributors to the internalization of the alcoholic stigma. In conclusion, the repertoire of social skills is an important variable for understanding the internalization of such stigma and, therefore, must be taken into consideration by programs which seek to reduce this phenomenon.