This comprehensive clinical resource and text is grounded in cutting-edge knowledge about the biopsychosocial processes involved in addictive behaviors. Presented are research-based, eminently practical strategies for assessing the treatment needs and ongoing clinical outcomes of individuals who have problems with substance use and nonchemical addictions. From leading contributors, the book shows how to weave assessment through the entire process of care, from the initial screening to intervention, relapse prevention, and posttreatment monitoring.

Only a decade ago, addictive behavior was defined as chemical dependence on alcohol or opiates. As each addictive drug was seen as unique, the professional and scientific disciplines investigating them worked in relative isolation. Moreover, while physiological, psychological, behavioral, and social factors were recognized as important in the etiology of addiction, these domains were not integrated into a unified model. Now, a more ``generic'' view of addictions is emerging. As analyzed in ASSESSMENT OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS, similar processes occur across a wide range of behaviors, such as drinking, smoking, eating, and drug use. With this broadened view, research has shifted from the evaluation of treatment interventions to more process-oriented studies of the multiple factors contributing to the maintenance of, and relapse to, addictive behaviors. As research is becoming increasingly integrated across disciplines, addiction now may be defined as an interactive product of learning in a setting involving physiological events as they are interpreted, labeled, and given meaning by the individual.

This important work elucidates why relapse is so common for people recovering from addictive behavior problems--and what can be done to keep treatment on track. It provides an empirically supported framework for helping people with addictive behavior problems develop the skills to maintain their treatment goals, even in high-risk situations, and deal effectively with setbacks that occur. The expert contributors clearly identify the obstacles that arise in treating specific problem behaviors, review the factors that may trigger relapse at different stages of recovery, and present procedures for teaching effective cognitive and behavioral coping strategies.

"The book has two primary goals. The first is to challenge and strengthen the reader's understanding of addiction by exploring how others in the field have come to know it. We hope that this will enable the reader to create a clear and logically consistent perspective on addiction. The second goal is to show the reader how theory and research are important to both the prevention and the treatment of substance abuse. This information should provide the reader with an array of strategies for addressing substance abuse problems and help make him or her an effective practitioner"--

About a decade ago, psychologists began exploring the commonalities among alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, and obesity. The term sub stance abuse evolved into the current concept of addictive behaviors, which recognizes similarities with other behaviors that do not involve consummatory responses (e. g. , pathological gambling, compulsions, sexual deviations). Professional societies and journals now have been founded in both Britain and the United States with the purpose of focus ing on research and treatment in the area of addictive behaviors. As the field has evolved, new models have emerged to address the questions and puzzles that face professionals. This volume examines some of these current issues and, in particular, explores common pro cesses of change that seem to cut across the addictive behaviors. The chapters are based on papers presented at the Third International Con ference on Treatment of Addictive Behaviors, which was held at North Berwick, Scotland, in August of 1984. The conference was organized around an integrative model of stages and processes of change that has been useful in organizing new knowledge about how to intervene with addictive behaviors. This model is set forth by its authors, Jim Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, Fred Kanfer ex pounds his own model of self-regulation, which overlaps nicely with the Prochaska-DiClemente framework and provides a behavioral-theoretical context.

Drug abuse persists as one of the most costly and contentious problems on the nation's agenda. Pathways of Addiction meets the need for a clear and thoughtful national research agenda that will yield the greatest benefit from today's limited resources. The committee makes its recommendations within the public health framework and incorporates diverse fields of inquiry and a range of policy positions. It examines both the demand and supply aspects of drug abuse. Pathways of Addiction offers a fact-filled, highly readable examination of drug abuse issues in the United States, describing findings and outlining research needs in the areas of behavioral and neurobiological foundations of drug abuse. The book covers the epidemiology and etiology of drug abuse and discusses several of its most troubling health and social consequences, including HIV, violence, and harm to children. Pathways of Addiction looks at the efficacy of different prevention interventions and the many advances that have been made in treatment research in the past 20 years. The book also examines drug treatment in the criminal justice setting and the effectiveness of drug treatment under managed care. The committee advocates systematic study of the laws by which the nation attempts to control drug use and identifies the research questions most germane to public policy. Pathways of Addiction provides a strategic outline for wise investment of the nation's research resources in drug abuse. This comprehensive and accessible volume will have widespread relevanceâ€"to policymakers, researchers, research administrators, foundation decisionmakers, healthcare professionals, faculty and students, and concerned individuals.