Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly co-occurs with alcohol dependence (AD) and negatively affects treatment outcomes. Trauma-related negative affect enhances substance craving in laboratory cue-reactivity studies of AD individuals, but the role of positive affect has not been established. In this study, 108 AD treatment-seeking adults…

This study examined partner violence before and in the 1st and 2nd year after behavioral couples therapy (BCT) for 103 married or cohabiting women seeking alcohol dependence treatment and their male partners; it used a demographically matched nonalcoholic comparison sample. The treatment sample received M = 16.7 BCT sessions over 5-6 months.…

The author's son Jeff is a heroin addict. He was not born this way, or maybe he was and the addiction was there, hiding, all through his childhood years. That is the thing with addiction, no one knows the cause. The author has spent a lot of time trying to ferret out the answer to why one of her two sons is an addict and the other is not. She now…

Discusses the problem of drunk driving primarily as a failure in the process of operant conditioning, with the inappropriate behavior of the drunk driver resulting from a profound ignorance of the potentially tragic consequences of his behavior. Concludes most effective way to understand consequences is to witness autopsies of drunk driving…

Assessed degree of alcohol aversion in 60 alcoholics who received emetic alcohol-aversion therapy. Results revealed changes in response to alcoholic, but not to nonalcoholic, flavors, including decreased consumption in taste tests, more negative flavor ratings, overt behavioral indicants of aversion and increased tachycardiac response. (Author/NB)

Data indicated that drinking and other outcome measures were only moderately interrelated in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Outcome at the group level was somewhat better six months after treatment than it was 18 months later. (Author)

The problem drinking continuum was devised to illustrate different kinds of alcohol-related problems, without implying irreversibility, progression, or the presence of a unitary disease. It is one way of conceptualizing alcohol dependencies that has been fruitful in outpatient counseling, residential care, alcohol education, and training programs.…

A former inmate traces his journey from prison student to prison program director and researcher. He describes how postsecondary education in prison changed his ideas and outlook. (SK)

Clients admitted to an alcohol abuse treatment program volunteered for social skills training related to difficult on-the-job situations. Modeling alone and modeling plus focused instruction were employed to improve several target behaviors. Addition of focused instructions greatly enhanced treatment effects. (Author)

A factor-analytic study of the relationship of vocational client change to nonvocational client change is presented. Previous research findings indicating the independence of these two dimensions are supported. An explanation to account for this result is offered. (Author/BEF)

Used covert sensitization and alcohol education/counseling to eliminate drinking behavior in two motivated offenders in their early twenties who had previously been classified as "alcoholic." In over 24 months for 1 subject, and 9 months for the other, only 1 conviction for 1 of the subjects occurred, which turned out to be minor and…

Studied neuropsychological recovery following alcohol abuse as a function of age. Alcoholics (N=31) were administered a repeatable neuropsychological test battery for the three months immediately following cessation of drinking. Results suggest that beyond age 40, humans increase in vulnerability to the toxic effects of alcohol. (JAC)

Follow-up data are presented for 6- and 12-months on male alcoholics (N=20) who received either a multifaceted inpatient alcoholism treatment program alone (controls) or emetic or shock aversion therapy in addition to that program. Both emetic and control subjects compiled more days of abstinence than shock subjects. (Author)

Presents unilateral family therapy in which intervention is directed toward changing the behavior of an uncooperative family member through working with a cooperative member as mediator. Applies the approach to the problem of endeavoring to reach and change an uncooperative alcohol abuser. (Author)

This study examined partner violence before and after behavioral couples therapy (BCT) for 303 married or cohabiting male alcoholic patients and used a demographically matched nonalcoholic comparison sample. In the year before BCT, 60% of alcoholic patients had been violent toward their female partner, 5 times the comparison sample rate of 12%. In…