Alcohol and Alcoholism 

About: Alcohol and Alcoholism is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Poison control & Alcohol dependence. It has an ISSN identifier of 0735-0414. Over the lifetime, 4077 publications have been published receiving 126254 citations. The journal is also known as: Alcohol and Alcoholism (Oxford, United Kingdom) & Alcohol and Alcoholism (Oxford).

Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change

Abstract: Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change . William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick (3rd edn), New York: Guilford Press, 2013. £39.99. 482 pp. ISBN: 978-1-60918-227-4. Description of and instruction in the art of motivational interviewing (MI) has made a significant contribution to the optimism of practitioners treating addiction disorders. This is the field in which MI arose 30 years ago. Its use has generalized into other health behaviour change interventions, and beyond into general decision making. For the addiction field, the essence of the contribution has been to give practitioners a set of skills to deal with that most challenging characteristic of people with addiction disorders, namely resistance to change. This third edition of Motivational Interviewing elaborates on the method described in the two previous editions (Miller and Rollnick, 1991, 2002), but without the assistance of contributing authors and with the change of the sub-title to ‘Helping People Change’. The previous sub-titles were: Volume 1 ‘Helping People Change Addictive Behaviour’ and Volume 2: ‘Preparing People for Change’. These subtle differences are important; the practice of MI appears to stop where the behaviour change plan begins. Hence, arguably the second volume's sub-title is the most apt. All are based on the once novel approach in …

A review and update

Abstract: Alcoholism is related to the development of several human and experimental cancers. The possible mechanisms by which alcohol might induce cancer are reviewed together with the pertinent experimental data including the equivocal role of nitrosamines. Well known human cancers clearly related to alcoholism include head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, but the evidence linking alcohol and pancreatic cancer or alcohol and colorectal cancer is much weaker. There are hints that alcohol may be one important factor in individuals who develop multiple primary cancers.

Impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on adolescent alcohol use: a systematic review of longitudinal studies

Abstract: Aims: To assess the impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on future adolescent alcohol use. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Sociological Abstracts, and PsycLIT, from 1990 to September 2008, supplemented with searches of Google scholar, hand searches of key journals and reference lists of identified papers and key publications for more recent publications. We selected longitudinal studies that assessed individuals' exposure to commercial communications and media and alcohol drinking behaviour at baseline, and assessed alcohol drinking behaviour at follow-up. Participants were adolescents aged 18 years or younger or below the legal drinking age of the country of origin of the study, whichever was the higher. Results: Thirteen longitudinal studies that followed up a total of over 38,000 young people met inclusion criteria. The studies measured exposure to advertising and promotion in a variety of ways, including estimates of the volume of media and advertising exposure, ownership of branded merchandise, recall and receptivity, and one study on expenditure on advertisements. Follow-up ranged from 8 to 96 months. One study reported outcomes at multiple time-points, 3, 5, and 8 years. Seven studies provided data on initiation of alcohol use amongst non-drinkers, three studies on maintenance and frequency of drinking amongst baseline drinkers, and seven studies on alcohol use of the total sample of non-drinkers and drinkers at baseline. Twelve of the thirteen studies concluded an impact of exposure on subsequent alcohol use, including initiation of drinking and heavier drinking amongst existing drinkers, with a dose response relationship in all studies that reported such exposure and analysis. There was variation in the strength of association, and the degree to which potential confounders were controlled for. The thirteenth study, which tested the impact of outdoor advertising placed near schools failed to detect an impact on alcohol use, but found an impact on intentions to use. Conclusions: Longitudinal studies consistently suggest that exposure to media and commercial communications on alcohol is associated with the likelihood that adolescents will start to drink alcohol, and with increased drinking amongst baseline drinkers. Based on the strength of this association, the consistency of findings across numerous observational studies, temporality of exposure and drinking behaviours observed, dose-response relationships, as well as the theoretical plausibility regarding the impact of media exposure and commercial communications, we conclude that alcohol advertising and promotion increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to use alcohol, and to drink more if they are already using alcohol.

The efficacy of motivational interviewing as a brief intervention for excessive drinking: A meta-analytic review.

Abstract: Aims : (1) To examine whether or not motivational interviewing (MI) is more efficacious than no intervention in reducing alcohol consumption; (2) to examine whether or not MI is as efficacious as other interventions. Method : A literature search followed by a meta-analytic review of randomized control trials of MI interventions. Aggregated between-group effect sizes and confidence intervals were calculated for each study. Results : Literature search revealed 22 relevant studies, of which nine compared brief MI with no treatment, and met methodological criteria for inclusion. In these, the aggregate effect size was 0.18 (95% C.I. 0.07, 0.29), but was greater 0.60 (95% C.I. 0.36, 0.83) when, in a post-hoc analysis, the follow-up period was three months or less. Its efficacy also increased when dependent drinkers were excluded. There were nine studies meeting methodological criteria for inclusion which compared brief MI with another treatment (one of a diverse set of interventions), yielding an aggregate effect size of 0.43(95% C.I. 0.17, 0.70). The literature review pointed to several factors which may influence MI's long-term efficacy effectiveness of MI. Conclusions : Brief MI is effective. Future studies should focus on possible predictors of efficacy such as gender, age, employment status, marital status, mental health, initial expectations, readiness to change, and whether the population is drawn from treatment-seeking or non-treatment-seeking populations. Also, the components of MI should be compared to determine which are most responsible for maintaining long-term changes. ( Received 11 July 2005; first review notified 24 July 2005; in revised form 13 February 2006; accepted 16 February 2006)

Frontal lobe changes in alcoholism: a review of the literature.

Abstract: Alcohol can induce a wide spectrum of effects on the central nervous system. These effects can be recognized at the neurophysiological, morphological and neuropsychological levels. Several studies of the effect of alcohol on the frontal lobes were identified for review from MedLine, PsychLIT databases and by manual searching. In this review article, the different changes are examined in detail. Computed tomography studies have reported changes of frontal lobe in alcoholism, while magnetic resonance imaging studies supported these findings. Neurophysiological studies with positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography have reported a decreased frontal lobe glucose utilization and reduced cerebral blood flow. There is also evidence from neuropsychological studies that there are specific deficits in alcoholism that suggest frontal lobe dysfunction. Considered together, these studies lend a strong credence to the concept of frontal lobe pathology in alcoholism. However, frontal lobe is not an isolated part of the brain and should be considered with its heavy connections to different cortical and subcortical areas of the brain.