Treatment of alcoholism and concomitant drugs of abuse.

It has been proposed that concomitant substances of abuse may have additive or synergistic properties such that alcoholics using other substances of abuse concurrently may have a harder time giving up alcohol than alcoholics abusing only alcohol. The present study surveyed 291 alcoholics in an alcohol treatment program and 86 social drinker controls matched on age, education, SES and gender. Alcohol consumption, smoking, coffee intake, other substances of abuse.

Commentary on the utility of experimental social and learning models of alcoholism.

This chapter reviews the status of models in scientific research generally and in alcohol research in particular. The reader's attention is drawn to both advantages and disadvantages of models. The authors concur with others that models should be judged primarily by a criterion of usefulness rather than that of truthfulness .

Feasibility of an alcoholism health insurance benefit.

The present study examined the impact of alcoholism treatment upon the subsequent utilization of health care services. Information gathered on a sample of 2,362 alcoholic clients at time of admission and six months later, was utilized to compare the savings in medical care expenses with the costs of alcoholism treatment. For the first year following treatment, costs exceeded savings by an average of $263 per client (benefit-cost ratio = 0.