
The Handbook of Alcohol Use
Understandings from Synapse to Society
- 1st Edition - January 17, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Authors: Daniel Frings, Ian P. Albery
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 6 7 2 0 - 5
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 6 8 8 6 - 8
Alcohol use is complex and multifaceted. Our understanding must be also. Alcohol use, both problematic and not, can be understood at many levels – from basic biological sys… Read more

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Request a sales quoteAlcohol use is complex and multifaceted. Our understanding must be also.
Alcohol use, both problematic and not, can be understood at many levels – from basic biological systems through to global public health interventions. To provide the multi-level perspective needed to address this complexity, the Handbook of Alcohol Use draws together an eclectic set of authors, including both researchers and practitioners, to examine the causes, processes and effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, this book approaches the topic from biological, individual cognition, small group/systems, and domestic/global population perspectives. Each examines alcohol use differently and each offers its own ways to combat problematic behavior. While these alternative viewpoints are sometimes construed as incompatible or antagonistic, the current volume also explores how they can be complimentary.
In summary, the Handbook of Alcohol Use brings together an international group of experts to explore how alcohol use can be understood from various perspectives and how these conceptualizations relate. In doing so, it allows us to understand alcohol consumption, and our responses to it, more from an account which spans ‘from synapse to society’.
Alcohol use, both problematic and not, can be understood at many levels – from basic biological systems through to global public health interventions. To provide the multi-level perspective needed to address this complexity, the Handbook of Alcohol Use draws together an eclectic set of authors, including both researchers and practitioners, to examine the causes, processes and effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, this book approaches the topic from biological, individual cognition, small group/systems, and domestic/global population perspectives. Each examines alcohol use differently and each offers its own ways to combat problematic behavior. While these alternative viewpoints are sometimes construed as incompatible or antagonistic, the current volume also explores how they can be complimentary.
In summary, the Handbook of Alcohol Use brings together an international group of experts to explore how alcohol use can be understood from various perspectives and how these conceptualizations relate. In doing so, it allows us to understand alcohol consumption, and our responses to it, more from an account which spans ‘from synapse to society’.
- Explores alcohol use from individual through to societal levels
- Synthesizes these varied levels of analysis on alcohol use
- Draws on an international team of experts including researchers and alcohol treatment practitioners
- Makes clear the implications of research for practice (and vice versa)
Researchers, professors, and students in the field of psychology and addiction, health psychology, and the biology of addiction. Secondary markets include those in public health and policy change.
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Dedications
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Section 1: Positioning alcohol use and misuse
- Chapter 1. Contemplating the micro and macro of alcohol use and misuse to enable meta-understandings
- Abstract
- A (very) brief history of consuming C2H5OH
- How much do we consume?
- So, we drink. So what?
- The need to understand “why” we drink
- References
- Chapter 2. The world’s favorite drug: What we have learned about alcohol from over 500,000 respondents to the Global Drug Survey
- Abstract
- Introduction
- GDS history and methods
- Drinking prevalence and patterns in the GDS
- Getting drunk
- Consequences
- Reducing harms
- Advocating for trans people who use alcohol
- Reflections and conclusions
- References
- Chapter 3. Transparency and replication in alcohol research
- Abstract
- Introduction
- What is the evidence that research quality is suboptimal?
- What are the factors that contribute to research quality?
- What is the role of incentives and research culture?
- Potential solutions
- Conclusion
- References
- Section 2: Within the body and mind
- Chapter 4. Alcohol and mental health: Co-occurring alcohol use and mental health disorders
- Abstract
- The prevalence of co-occurring alcohol use and mental health disorders
- Etiological theories: what comes first?
- Conclusions and treatment considerations
- References
- Further reading
- Chapter 5. The pharmacological understandings of alcohol use and misuse
- Abstract
- Introduction: addiction as a biological model (a ‘brain disease’)
- Broad pharmacological effects of alcohol
- Brain adaptations: a theoretical framework
- The role of brain adaptations in key aspects of addiction
- Tolerance
- Withdrawal
- How are drug treatments developed
- Summary
- References
- Chapter 6. Learning from the dead: How death provides insights into alcohol-related harm
- Abstract
- Introduction
- What forensic studies tells us
- What alcohol-related death has taught us
- References
- Section 3: The individual
- Chapter 7. Levels of cognitive understanding: Reflective and impulsive cognition in alcohol use and misuse
- Abstract
- Dual-process models
- A neural network approach to dual-process models
- References
- Chapter 8. Social cognition in severe alcohol use disorder
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Emotional experience and emotion regulation
- Perception of social cues
- Theory of mind
- Complex social cognition
- Perspectives for future studies and conclusion
- References
- Chapter 9. Metacognitive therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder: Theoretical foundations and treatment principles
- Abstract
- The metacognitive perspective of emotional disorders
- The metacognitive perspective of addictive behaviors
- The cognitive attentional syndrome and metacognitive beliefs in Alcohol Use Disorder
- MCT as a possible treatment for AUD
- Conclusions
- References
- Further reading
- Chapter 10. Promoting problem recognition amongst harmful drinkers: A conceptual model for problem framing factors
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Harmful drinkers as an overlooked population
- Problem recognition and ‘othering’
- A conceptual model for problem recognition and framing factors
- Real world implications for framing effects and problem recognition
- Conclusion
- References
- Chapter 11. A psychological-systems goal-theory model of alcohol consumption and treatment
- Abstract
- The central role of emotion in goal choices
- Goals, choices, and priorities in cognitive processing
- Motives for drinking alcohol
- Implications for treatment
- Conclusions
- References
- Chapter 12. Alcohol consumption in context: The effect of psych-socio-environmental drivers
- Abstract
- Groups, beliefs and consumption
- Affect, beliefs and consumption
- Moving forward? Objective measures in alcohol research
- Concluding thoughts
- References
- Section 4: The group
- Chapter 13. I can keep up with the best: The role of social norms in alcohol consumption and their use in interventions
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Origins of social norms: children’s perceptions of adult drinking
- Social norms and interventions
- Conclusion
- References
- Chapter 14. Alcohol consumption and group decision making
- Abstract
- Alcohol consumption and group decision making
- Future directions
- Conclusion
- References
- Further reading
- Chapter 15. An identity-based explanatory framework for alcohol use and misuse
- Abstract
- What is a ‘social identity’?
- Identity/social connections as entry into alcohol misuse
- The social identity model of cessation maintenance
- Implications for practice
- Conclusion
- References
- Section 5: Cultural questions
- Chapter 16. Alcohol consumption and cultural systems: Global similarities and differences
- Abstract
- Introduction
- National variations in alcohol consumption
- Sociocultural correlates of alcohol consumption
- Culture surrounding alcohol consumption
- Conclusion
- References
- Chapter 17. Alcohol and the legal system: Effects of alcohol on eyewitness testimony
- Abstract
- Prevalence and extent of the intoxicated witness problem
- Attitudes and perceptions of intoxicated witnesses and victims
- The impact of alcohol on eyewitness memory performance
- The impact of alcohol on suggestibility
- Potential mechanisms underlying alcohol-related effects on eyewitness memory
- References
- Further reading
- Chapter 18. Spiritual and religious influences
- Abstract
- Introduction
- What is spirituality?
- Spiritual and religious understandings of alcohol misuse
- Spirituality and religion as preventative forces
- Religion and spirituality in the recovery from alcohol misuse
- Conclusions
- References
- Chapter 19. Alcohol use in adolescence across U.S. race/ethnicity: Considering cultural factors in prevention and interventions
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Adolescence as a developmental stage
- Consequences of alcohol use for adolescents
- Defining patterns of alcohol consumption
- Adolescence and drinking behaviors
- Prevention and intervention efforts
- Culturally adapted evidence-based interventions
- Social and cultural factors and adolescent alcohol use
- International perspective
- Conclusion
- References
- Chapter 20. Alcohol use and misuse: Perspectives from seldom heard voices
- Abstract
- Racial/ethnic minorities
- Women
- LGBT populations
- Veterans
- Older adults
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
- Section 6: Taking it into practice
- Chapter 21. Theory-driven interventions: How social cognition can help
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Established applications of theories of social cognition to interventions for problematic drinking
- Recent applications of theories of social cognition to interventions for problematic drinking
- Emergent applications of theories of social cognition to interventions for problematic drinking
- Lessons learned
- References
- Chapter 22. Taking social identity into practice
- Abstract
- Social influences on drinking
- Social identity and problematic drinking
- Social factors at treatment entry
- Adjustment to social identity change: a theoretical framework
- Evidence that social groups and identities matter in recovery
- Social identity mapping in recovery
- Challenges to building new (sober) group memberships
- An intervention for social identity management in addiction: Groups 4 Belonging
- Conclusions
- References
- Chapter 23. Working together: Opportunities and barriers to evidence-based practice
- Abstract
- A client perspective of alcohol treatment: Otis
- A family member perspective
- A treatment service staff perspective
- A commissioner perspective
- An academic perspective
- References
- Chapter 24. Transdermal alcohol monitors: Research, applications, and future directions
- Abstract
- Transdermal alcohol sensors
- Research and treatment applications of transdermal monitors
- Converting TAC into estimates of BAC
- Future research directions and applications
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Chapter 25. Recovery from addiction: A synthesis of perspectives from behavioral economics, psychology, and decision modeling
- Abstract
- Alcohol-related harm and addiction
- Alcohol-related behavior change and recovery from addiction
- The molar perspective: behavioral economics
- The molecular perspective: value-based decision-making (VBDM)
- Dual-process theories: automatic and controlled processes
- Resolving competing predictions derived from dual-process theories and VBDM by modeling conflict during decision-making
- Summary and conclusion
- References
- Section 7: Future directions
- Chapter 26. Alcohol addiction: A disorder of self-regulation but not a disease of the brain
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Addiction is a disorder of self-regulation
- Defining addiction
- The compulsion view of addiction
- Evidence on the nature of addictive behavior in humans
- Addiction as a form of akrasia
- Addiction as temporal inconsistency
- What kind of disorder then is addiction?
- Advantages of seeing addiction as a disorder of self-regulation
- Self-regulation and dual-systems theory
- Commonalities with neuroscientific research on addiction
- Concluding remarks: addiction is not a disease of the brain
- Acknowledgments
- References
- Further reading
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 17, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- No. of pages: 678
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780128167205
- eBook ISBN: 9780128168868
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Daniel Frings
Daniel Frings is Professor of Social Psychology at London South Bank University. He is a widely published and cited author, with work including academic journal articles, various book chapters, a popular press psychology book, and a concise overview of social psychology aimed at students. His research focuses primarily on social identity processes, with a special interest in addiction. He also has research interests in the fields of mental health and psychophysiology and consults on the design and evaluation of digital mental health products. He is currently Chair of London South Bank University Ethics Panel, directs an MSc in Addictive Psychology and Counselling and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology (Wiley).
Affiliations and expertise
Associate Professor, London South Bank University, UKIA
Ian P. Albery
Ian P. Albery is Professor of Psychology and Founding Head of the Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research at London South Bank University. His research focuses on how people’s identity derived from their group membership affects their addictive behaviour, how the types of messages we use to try to get people to think about and change their behaviours operate, why it is that people are influenced by and have a preference for certain cues in their environments (and how this influences what they do), why some people recognize that they have a “problem” but others do not, and what effects alcohol has on witness memory. This work has been published widely as journal articles, books and chapters in books. He is on the Editor Board of Addictive Behaviors and Addictive Behaviors Reports.
Affiliations and expertise
Director of Research and Enterprise, School of Applied Sciences, London South Bank University, UKRead The Handbook of Alcohol Use on ScienceDirect