Substance and Behavioral Addictions


Book Description

Substance and Behavioral Addictions: Concepts, Causes, and Cures presents the concepts, etiology, assessment, prevention, and cessation of substance (tobacco, alcohol, other drugs, and food) and behavioral (gambling, Internet, shopping, love, sex, exercise, and work) addictions. The text provides a novel and integrative appetitive motivation framework of addiction, while acknowledging and referencing multi-level influences on addiction, such as neurobiological, cognitive, and micro-social and macro-social/physical environmental. The book discusses concurrent and substitute addiction, and offers prevention and treatment solutions, which are presented from a more integrative perspective than traditional presentations. This is an ideal text for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, practitioners, and researchers.




The Cambridge Handbook of Substance and Behavioral Addictions


Book Description

Written by leaders in the addictions field, 100 authors from six countries, this handbook is a thoroughly comprehensive resource. Philosophical and legal issues are addressed, while conceptual underpinnings are provided through explanations of appetitive motivation, incentive sensitization, reward deficiency, and behavioral economics theories. Major clinical and research methods are clearly mapped out (e.g. MRI, behavioral economics, interview assessments, and qualitative approaches), outlining their strengths and weaknesses, giving the reader the tools needed to guide their research and practice aims. The etiology of addiction at various levels of analysis is discussed, including neurobiology, cognition, groups, culture, and environment, which simultaneously lays out the foundations and high-level discourse to serve both novice and expert researchers and clinicians. Importantly, the volume explores the prevention and treatment of such addictions as alcohol, tobacco, novel drugs, food, gambling, sex, work, shopping, the internet, and several seldom-investigated behaviors (e.g. love, tanning, or exercise).




Preventing HIV Transmission


Book Description

This volume addresses the interface of two major national problems: the epidemic of HIV-AIDS and the widespread use of illegal injection drugs. Should communities have the option of giving drug users sterile needles or bleach for cleaning needs in order to reduce the spread of HIV? Does needle distribution worsen the drug problem, as opponents of such programs argue? Do they reduce the spread of other serious diseases, such as hepatitis? Do they result in more used needles being carelessly discarded in the community? The panel takes a critical look at the available data on needle exchange and bleach distribution programs, reaches conclusions about their efficacy, and offers concrete recommendations for public policy to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. The book includes current knowledge about the epidemiologies of HIV/AIDS and injection drug use; characteristics of needle exchange and bleach distribution programs and views on those programs from diverse community groups; and a discussion of laws designed to control possession of needles, their impact on needle sharing among injection drug users, and their implications for needle exchange programs.




Comprehending Drug Use


Book Description

This book examines drug ethnography--methodology that involves access to the hidden world of drug users, the social spaces they frequent, and the larger structural forces that help construct their worlds. It explores the intersections of drug ethnography with globalization, criminalization, public health (including the HIV/AIDS epidemic, hepatitis, and other diseases), and gender, and also provide a guide to the methods and career paths of ethnographers.







Research Methods in the Study of Substance Abuse


Book Description

This authoritative handbook reviews the most widely-used methods for studying the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. Its thorough coverage spans the range of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method approaches to documenting and measuring the complex psychological, behavioral, and physical experience of substance misuse and dependence, to ensure valid, useful results. Experts discuss special issues and considerations for conducting ethical research with specialized populations, including youth, inmates, and the LGBT community. Throughout these chapters, contributors demonstrate the multidisciplinary nature of substance abuse research, with emphasis on professional ethics and the critical role of research in developing best practices and effective policy for prevention and treatment. Among the topics covered: · Transdisciplinary research perspective: a theoretical framework for substance abuse research · Longitudinal methods in substance use research · Considerations in blending qualitative and quantitative components in substance abuse research · The use of biological measures in social research on drug misuse · Using surveys to study substance use behavior · Applications of GIS to inform substance abuse research and interventions · Evaluating substance use prevention and treatment programs Research Methods in the Study of Substance Abuse is an essential resource for health services and public health professionals, policymakers, and researchers working and training in the field of addiction. It encourages the rigor and understanding necessary to address widespread social and public health concerns.







Addiction Research Methods


Book Description

Addiction Research Methods’ is a comprehensive handbook for health professionals, policy-makers and researchers working and training in the field of addiction. The book provides a clear, comprehensive and practical guide to research design, methods and analysis within the context of the field of alcohol and other drugs. The reader is introduced to fundamental principles and key issues; and is orientated to available sources of information and key literature. Written by a team of internationally acclaimed contributors, the book is divided into six major sections: Introduction; Research Design; Basic Toolbox; Biological Models; Specialist Methods; and Analytical Methods. Each chapter offers an introduction to the background and development of the discipline in question, its key features and applications, how it compares to other methods/analyses and its advantages and limitations. FEATURES List of useful websites and assistive technology. Case study examples List of useful hermeneutics Recommended reading list Contains exercises to help the reader to develop their skills.