The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Learning to cope, together: How my son's experience with addiction inspired me to launch a family support network

This month’s Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the second in a series of interviews with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their own communities. In 2004, Joanne Peterson founded Learn to Cope, a non-profit support network that offers “education, resources, peer support and hope” for family members coping with a loved one’s addiction. Learn to Cope, which includes over 11,000 members, is a nationally recognized model for peer support and prevention programming. Here, Ms. Peterson discusses her efforts to launch and sustain Learn to Cope with Heather Gray, Senior Editor of The BASIS. Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 16(3) - Videogames and vaping: Can one popular phenomenon be used to prevent another?

This week, as part of our Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction, ASHES reviews a study that investigates the effectiveness of a web-based videogame prevention intervention on adolescents’ beliefs and knowledge of e-cigarette use and vaping. Read more →

Building bridges to problem gambling solutions: Our experience leading the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling

This month’s Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction focuses on ways to bring addiction prevention and recovery beyond medical settings and into communities. Today, we feature the first in a series of interviews with inspiring people who have led efforts to reduce the impact of addiction on their communities. Ed Talbot and Dot Duda serve as Executive Director and President, respectively, of the New Hampshire Council on Problem Gambling (NHCPG), which was first incorporated in 1997. The NHCPG became inactive for a number of years, but Mr. Talbot, Ms. Duda, and others brought it back to life. In the following, Mr. Talbot and Ms. Duda discuss their work with Heather Gray, Senior Editor of The BASIS and former member of the NHCPG Board of Directors. Read more →

The DRAM, Vol. 16(3) - Can this evidence-based intervention help reduce alcohol use in rural African-American youth? Let’s find out.

This week, as part of our Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction, The DRAM reviews an investigation into the effectiveness of the Strong African-American Families intervention in reducing drinking frequency in rural African-American youth. Read more →

Introduction to the Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction

Adam O’Malley was at a pub in the northern English city of Leeds when something caught his attention: a coaster that read, “Is there a mate missing around this table? Reach out to him.” O’Malley flipped the coaster over to find another message: “If your mate’s acting differently, it could be a sign of a mental health problem: Reach out to him, be yourself, do what you love together.” Surprised and impressed by this approach to promoting men’s mental health, O’Malley posted photos of the coasters on Twitter, where they went viral. It turns out the coasters are part of... Read more →

The WAGER, Vol. 25(2) - From recreational gambler to Gambling Disorder: Understanding the Pathways Model of problem gambling

This week, The WAGER reviews recent research on the Pathways Model of Problem Gambling, originally proposed by Blaszczynski & Nower in 2002, that describes the progression from first gamble to problem gambling based on different predisposing variables. Read more →

Models and Theories: How We Understand Responsible Gambling

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the application of models and theories to our understanding of responsible gambling, was written by Howard Shaffer, Morris E. Chafetz Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Medical School and Distinguished Faculty at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, Robert Ladouceur, Professor Emeritus in the School of Psychology at the Université Laval, and Alex Blaszczynski, Professorial Research Fellow & Co-Director or the Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, at the University of Sydney, as part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

Recognizing Stigma Embedded in Diagnostic Criteria for Substance Use Disorders

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the enduring consequences of the moral model of addiction, was written by Tanya Freedland, MPS, LADC, a Clinical Trainer and Research Associate at the Center for Practice Transformation, and Robert Krueger, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, is part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

STASH, Vol. 16(2) - Who, what, where, and when? Examining adolescent substance use with routine activity theory

This week, as part of our Special Series on Theories of Addiction, STASH reviews a study by Molly Block and colleagues that examines adolescent substance use with an approach informed by routine activity theory. Read more →

ASHES, Vol. 16(2) - E-cigarettes: Revisiting the Gateway Hypothesis

This week, as part of our Special Series on Theories of Addiction, ASHES explores the history of the gateway hypothesis of substance use and addiction, and its application to current e-cigarette trends. Read more →