Background for Real-Time Monitoring and Intervention Related to Alcohol Use
Search
The Convergent Neuroscience of Affective Pain and Substance Use Disorder
Introduction
A central feature of substance use disorder (SUD) is the emergence of negative affective or emotional states that influence the motivational properties of misused substances.1 Individual propensity to experience pain-related negative affect, for example, is hypothesized to be associated with the maintenance of both opioid use disorder (OUD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Chronic...
Sex and Gender Effects in Recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder
Patterns of Cannabis and Alcohol Co-Use: Substitution Versus Complementary Effects
Introduction
Use of alcohol and related problems cause significant global and individual health-related harms, and alcohol use is currently the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States.1,2 Alcohol and cannabis are among the most commonly used psychoactive substances in the United States.3 Although concurrent use of alcohol and cannabis (i.e., co-use: defined as using both...
Women and Alcohol - From the Editors
Recent epidemiological research has identified alarming trends in drinking patterns of girls and women in the United States. In recent years, the amount and frequency of alcohol use are increasing in White and Hispanic girls and young women in contrast to decreasing patterns of heavy alcohol use in boys and young men.1,2 Similarly, current and binge alcohol use is rising among older women,3,4 resu...
Stress and Alcohol: Epidemiologic Evidence
Exposure to varying forms of stress is an integral life experience that can provoke a variety of reactions. In research on alcohol, drug, and psychiatric disorders, the term “stress” often is understood to indicate any experience denoting adversity (Dohrenwend 2000). Stress exposures consist of external stimuli that are threatening or harmful; elicit fear, anxiety, anger, excitement, and/or...
Behavioral Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Impact of Gene–Environment Interaction on Alcohol Use Disorders
This article explores interactions between genetic and environmental effects on alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Two contrasting ideas define what it means to have genes and environment interact. The first approach—the one that this article will focus on—is a statistical perspective. This approach is based on statistical models in which genetic and environmental factors are sometimes measured...
Stress and the HPA Axis: Role of Glucocorticoids in Alcohol Dependence
Stress, generally defined as any stimulus that disrupts the body’s internal balance (i.e., physiological homeostasis), has long been suggested to be an important correlate of uncontrolled alcohol consumption or relapse to drinking following a period of abstinence. Large epidemiological studies have reported that a variety of stressors are associated with increased alcohol consumption and binge...
Alcohol’s Effects on Lung Health and Immunity
People have been drinking alcoholic beverages for millennia, and alcohol consumption has played an important role throughout human history, being linked to ancient and modern religions, early medicine, and social occasions and celebrations. Although alcohol consumption is socially accepted across many cultures, heavy and prolonged alcohol intake can lead not only to physical dependence but also...