Archive for the ‘Alcohol’ Category
Toward a Syndrome Model of Addiction: Multiple Expressions, Common Etiology
No CommentsIt is common for clinicians, researchers, and public policy makers to describe certain drugs or objects (e.g., games of chance) as “addictive,” tacitly implying that the cause of addiction resides in the properties of drugs or other objects. Conventional wisdom encourages this view by treating different excessive behaviors, such as alcohol dependence and pathological gambling, as distinct disorders. Evidence supporting a broader conceptualization of addiction is emerging.
Genders of Alcohol-Dependent Parents and Children Influence Psychopathology in the Children
No CommentsScientists already know that the children of alcohol-dependent (AD) individuals have a greater risk of developing a psychiatric illness, but the effects of gender on this risk are not well known. A new study has found that the effects of parental AD on a child’s psychopathology can be different, depending on both the gender of the AD parent and the gender of their child.
Results will be published in the October 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Researchand are currently available at Early View.
Social Costs of Alcohol Misuse in Northern Ireland for 2008/09
No CommentsIn 2009, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) appointed FGS McClure Watters, in partnership with the York Health Economics Consortium, to undertake a review of the social costs of alcohol misuse in Northern Ireland.
AA Isn’t the Best Solution: Alternatives for Alcoholics
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Building on an essay in Wired magazine by Brendan Koerner, New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks lauds to the sky AA and its founder, Bill Wilson. Both Brooks and Koerner point out the worldwide spread of AA (although it is limited mainly to the U.S. and like-minded countries), and the spread of the 12 steps to nearly all areas of behavior change, indeed, to how we approach social problems of all sorts.
ew research shows peer drug use may increase an individual’s genetic tendency to use drugs
1 CommentThe nature-nurture debate is usually about how much of something is due to our genes and how much is caused by our environment. New research just published in the academic journal Addiction shows that the case is more interesting for young women who smoke, drink, or use drugs, for two related reasons. First, a young woman with a genetic predisposition to substance use is also predisposed to choose friends who smoke, drink, or use drugs, thereby altering her environment in a way that encourages substance use.
