Advisor(s)

Karen Cropsey

Committee Member(s)

Christopher Henrich
Emma Kay

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

1-29-2026

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Abstract

While drug overdose deaths have generally decreased in the past year, close to 60,000 overdoses involving opioids occurred in 2024. The opioid crisis has lasted over two decades and is now in the fourth wave. The fourth wave has been characterized by overdoses resulting from fentanyl adulteration in the drug supply and polysubstance overdoses involving fentanyl. The purpose of the current study is to compare the perceived harm of fentanyl to other drugs of abuse and identify differences in the perceived harm of fentanyl between groups of people who use substances. An online survey was conducted across 15 states in the United States of persons (N = 2,644) who indicated using at least one drug in their lifetime. Perceptions of fentanyl’s harm were compared across groups of participants who have engaged in polysubstance use (both in the past 90-days and over their lifetime) and who have not engaged in polysubstance use, who have used opioids and who have not used opioids, and who have used opioids in their lifetime and who have used opioids in the past 90-days. The results of our study indicated that fentanyl was perceived as the most harmful drug (M = 9.28) followed by heroin (M=8.88) and hallucinogens were rated the least harmful (M = 5.16). Participants who engaged in polysubstance use in their lifetime rated fentanyl as more harmful than those who did not engage in polysubstance use and participants who engaged in opioid use in their lifetime rated fentanyl as more harmful than participants who have used opioids in the past 90-day. There was no difference in the perceived harm of fentanyl between those that had used opioids and those who have not used opioids and participants who engaged in polysubstance use in the last 90-days and those that had not engaged in polysubstance use in the last 90-days. This study demonstrated that fentanyl is perceived as highly harmful and that differences in the perceived harm of fentanyl exist across groups of people who use substances.

ProQuest Publication Number

32286835

ISBN

9798273398665

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