Alcohol Research : Current Reviews

List of Papers (Total 212)

Sex Differences in the Neurobiology of Alcohol Use Disorder.

Sex differences may play a critical role in modulating how chronic or heavy alcohol use impacts the brain to cause the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). AUD is a multifaceted and complex disorder driven by changes in key neurobiological structures ...

Gender Differences in the Epidemiology of Alcohol Use and Related Harms in the United States.

Over the past century, differences in alcohol use and related harms between males and females in the United States have diminished considerably. In general, males still consume more alcohol and experience and cause more alcohol-related injuries and deaths ...

Epidemiology of Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder.

Almost one-third of the U.S. population meets alcohol use disorder (AUD) criteria on a lifetime basis. This review provides an overview of recent research on the prevalence and patterns of alcohol-related improvement and selectively reviews nationally ...

Sex and Gender Effects in Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder.

The current article provides a brief summary of biopsychosocial gender differences in alcohol use disorder (AUD), then reviews existing literature on gender differences in treatment access, retention, outcomes, and longer-term recovery. Among psychotherapies ...

Brain Structure and Function in Recovery.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly is associated with compromise in neurobiological and/or neurobehavioral processes. The severity of this compromise varies across individuals and outcomes, as does the degree to which recovery of function is achieved. ...

Recovery in Special Emphasis Populations.

Special emphasis populations in the current context can be defined as groups experiencing health disparities resulting in elevated risk to health, safety, and well-being from drinking alcohol. Individuals from marginalized minority populations often encounter ...

Recovery and Youth: An Integrative Review.

Although rates of alcohol and other substance use disorders in adolescents have been estimated for decades, little is known about the prevalence, pathways, and predictors of remission and long-term recovery among adolescents. This article provides an ...

Naturalistic Research on Recovery Processes: Looking to the Future.

Because recovery is an ongoing process, conducting research on the recovery process presents multiple challenges. The process can play out over many years, but change also can occur quickly. Although researchers are keenly interested in the precursors ...

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mutual Help Group Participation for Substance Use Problems.

Mutual help groups are a ubiquitous component of the substance abuse treatment system in the United States, showing demonstrated effectiveness as a treatment adjunct; so, it is paramount to understand whether they are as appealing to, and as effective ...

The Emergence, Role, and Impact of Recovery Support Services.

Various community recovery support services help sustain positive behavior change for individuals with alcohol and drug use disorders. This article reviews the rationale, origins, emergence, prevalence, and empirical research on a variety of recovery ...

Natural Recovery by the Liver and Other Organs after Chronic Alcohol Use.

Chronic, heavy alcohol consumption disrupts normal organ function and causes structural damage in virtually every tissue of the body. Current diagnostic terminology states that a person who drinks alcohol excessively has alcohol use disorder. The liver ...

The Role of the Family in Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery for Adults.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and family functioning are inextricably bound, and families are impacted negatively by AUD, but families show substantial improvements with AUD recovery. Family members can successfully motivate a person with AUD to initiate ...

Alcohol Use Disorder: The Role of Medication in Recovery.

The misuse of alcohol in the United States continues to take a large toll on society, resulting in the deaths of about 88,000 Americans per year. Moreover, it is estimated that nearly 14.6 million Americans currently meet diagnostic criteria for current ...

Cognitive-Affective Transdiagnostic Factors Associated With Vulnerability to Alcohol and Prescription Opioid Use in the Context of Pain.

The use of alcohol and prescription opioids is common among people in pain and poses significant public health burdens. This review identifies factors associated with motivation to use alcohol and prescription opioids in the context of pain. Pain-relevant, ...

Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care: A Perspective on the Past, Present, and Future.

This paper provides a perspective on the recent concept of recovery-oriented systems of care with respect to its origins in the past and its status in the present, prior to considering directions in which such systems might move in the future. Although ...

Alcohol and Cannabis Use and the Developing Brain.

Alcohol and cannabis are the most commonly used substances during adolescence and are typically initiated during this sensitive neurodevelopmental period. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most recent literature focused ...

Hepatic Cannabinoid Signaling in the Regulation of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease.

The endocannabinoid system has emerged as a key regulatory signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD). More than 30 years of research have established different roles of endocannabinoids and their receptors in various ...

Forebrain-Midbrain Circuits and Peptides Involved in Hyperalgesia After Chronic Alcohol Exposure.

People living with pain report drinking alcohol to relieve pain. Acute alcohol use reduces pain, and chronic alcohol use facilitates the emergence or exaggeration of pain. Recently, funding agencies and neuroscientists involved in basic research have ...

The Convergent Neuroscience of Affective Pain and Substance Use Disorder.

Opioids and alcohol are widely used to relieve pain, with their analgesic efficacy stemming from rapid actions on both spinal and supraspinal nociceptive centers. As an extension of these relationships, both substances can be misused in attempts to manage ...

AUD Risk, Diagnoses, and Course in a Prospective Study Across Two Generations: Implications for Prevention.

This article is part of a Festschrift commemorating the 50th anniversary of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Established in 1970, first as part of the National Institute of Mental Health and later as an independent institute ...

The Synaptic Interactions of Alcohol and the Endogenous Cannabinoid System.

A growing body of evidence has implicated the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in the acute, chronic, and withdrawal effects of alcohol/ethanol on synaptic function. These eCB-mediated synaptic effects may contribute to the development of alcohol use disorder ...

Patterns of Cannabis and Alcohol Co-Use: Substitution Versus Complementary Effects.

The purpose of this review is to discuss the literature regarding the concurrent use (co-use) of alcohol and cannabis and competing hypotheses as to whether cannabis acts as a substitute for (i.e., replacing the effects of alcohol, resulting in decreased ...

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Awareness to Insight in Just 50 Years.

This article is part of a Festschrift commemorating the 50th anniversary of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Established in 1970, first as part of the National Institute of Mental Health and later as an independent institute ...