|
Holder, Harold D. In Textbook of Substance Abuse Treatment (3rd edition) pgs. 611-624 , New York, NY: The American Psychiatric Press (2004) Editor(s): Galanter, M.; and Kleber, H.D. This chapter is about the prevention of alcohol use among underage youth and alcohol abuse among all ages and will summarize the state of knowledge concerning various strategies to prevent alcohol-involved problems. The specific goals of alcohol prevention are to (a) delay or prevent the onset of use, that is the age at which alcohol is first used by children and youth, and (b) reduce the likelihood that alcohol problems will occur in the future. The first goal is important because early initiation of drinking is often associated with later problems including alcohol dependency. That is the earlier one begins to use alcohol, the more likely they are to incur alcohol-involved problems over their lifetime and to develop later alcohol dependency. The prevention of alcohol problems (Goal Two) includes (a) the prevention of acute problems or those immediately associated with heavy drinking including traffic crashes, falls, burns, drowning and violence and (b) the prevention of chronic affects, that is, the long term exposure to alcohol and the health problems associated with it, including physical and mental illness and early death.
|
