Harold D. Holder - Böcker

The contributors to this volume demonstrate that it is now possible to undertake community prevention trials of alcohol-involved problems with the same precision, good design, and careful planning that has characterized similar prevention trials for heart disease and cancer prevention. This is the first book to establish a scientific basis for the integration of research into program design and in program evaluation, making it possible to determine if community programs are effective or worth the money spent for them.In part I, the contributors address issues of outcome measures, selection of relevant community interventions, utilization of appropriate research designs and analyses, and adjustment to social and political realities. Part II reviews definitions, perspectives, and issues that provide a conceptual base for the rest of the book. Also considered are the selection and measurement of alcohol problems that may be candidate outcome variables for a community intervention study. Part III summarizes the perspectives and prior experiences of community-based approaches in other health areas (including heart disease, cancer, and adolescent health) that may be applicable to the prevention of alcohol-related problems. Experiences and implications of alcohol-prevention projects in Ontario, Texas, and Rhode Island are discussed in part IV. Part V evaluates different experimental designs, methodologies, and relative risk regression models of community-based intervention programs in alcohol prevention. The two chapters in part VI discuss the dynamic social and political realities facing community prevention trials for alcohol problems and guidelines for undertaking such trials. This book will be useful for state and local prevention program planners and evaluators, researchers in alcohol and substance abuse, teachers of applied research methods or social program development and planning, and government policy makers.

An individual's decision to use alcohol and the frequency, quantity and situation of such use are the result of a combination of biological and social factors. Drinking is not only a personal choice, but also a matter of custom and social behaviour, and is influenced by access and economic factors including levels of disposable income and cost of alcoholic beverages. Until prevention efforts cease to focus narrowly on the individual and begin to adopt broader community perspectives on alcohol problems and strategies to reduce them, these efforts will fail. This book, first published in 1998, challenges the current implicit models used in alcohol problem prevention and demonstrates an ecological perspective of the community as a complex adaptive system composed of interacting subsystems, an appreciation and understanding of which offers an alternative approach to the prevention of alcohol dependence and alcohol-related problems.

An individual's decision to use alcohol and the frequency, quantity and situation of such use are the result of a combination of biological and social factors. Drinking is not only a personal choice, but also a matter of custom and social behaviour, and is influenced by access and economic factors including levels of disposable income and cost of alcoholic beverages. Until prevention efforts cease to focus narrowly on the individual and begin to adopt broader community perspectives on alcohol problems and strategies to reduce them, these efforts will fail. This book, first published in 1998, challenges the current implicit models used in alcohol problem prevention and demonstrates an ecological perspective of the community as a complex adaptive system composed of interacting subsystems, an appreciation and understanding of which offers an alternative approach to the prevention of alcohol dependence and alcohol-related problems.

First published in 1998, this volume constitutes a fascinating analysis of the clash of the alcohol control systems of three Nordic countries – Finland, Norway and Sweden – with the free-market of the European Union. It examines of the impact of joining the EU and of remaining outside the trade area, providing a detailed review from a number of perspectives that will interest not only alcohol experts but all social scientists, along with all those interested in links and conflicts between public health interests, market forces and trade agreements. Topics discussed include national systems of alcohol production and distribution, taxation, retail prices, patterns of alcohol consumption, economic actors, social and health consequences and changes in attitudes to alcohol policy in the Nordic countries.

First published in 1998, this volume constitutes a fascinating analysis of the clash of the alcohol control systems of three Nordic countries – Finland, Norway and Sweden – with the free-market of the European Union. It examines of the impact of joining the EU and of remaining outside the trade area, providing a detailed review from a number of perspectives that will interest not only alcohol experts but all social scientists, along with all those interested in links and conflicts between public health interests, market forces and trade agreements. Topics discussed include national systems of alcohol production and distribution, taxation, retail prices, patterns of alcohol consumption, economic actors, social and health consequences and changes in attitudes to alcohol policy in the Nordic countries.

Written by leading authorities, this comprehensive volume reviews current knowledge about multiple problem behaviors in adolescence, focusing on what works in prevention and treatment. Cutting-edge research is presented on the epidemiology, development, and social costs of four youth problems that frequently co-occur: serious antisocial behavior, drug and alcohol misuse, tobacco smoking, and risky sexual behavior. A framework for reducing these behaviors is outlined, drawing on both clinical and public health perspectives, and empirically supported prevention and treatment programs are identified. Also addressed are ways to promote the development, dissemination, and effective implementation of research-based intervention practices.