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Abstract
Volatile substance misuse (VSM) is prevalent in the United States and associated with manifold deleterious outcomes. This review summarizes research on: (1) the prevalence of VSM in the United States and its trends since 1975, (2) population subgroups at an elevated risk for VSM, (3) key correlates of VSM, (4) psychosocial consequences of VSM, including emerging public health threats, and (5) etiological and contextual considerations of VSM use. Implications for future research and practice with volatile substance misusers in the United States are identified.
THE AUTHORS
Eric L. Garland, Ph.D., LCSW, is an Assistant Professor at the Florida State University College of Social Work and a Research Scholar of the Trinity Institute for the Addictions. He recently completed an NRSA postdoctoral research fellowship awarded by the National 715 Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (T-32AT003378) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he conducted a randomized controlled pilot trial of a mindfulness-oriented treatment for alcohol dependence. Informed by years of clinical experience as a licensed psychotherapist, Dr. Garland's current research targets cognitive-affective mechanisms implicated in addictive disorders.
Matthew O. Howard, Ph.D., is currently Frank A. Daniels, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Social Policy at the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Howard has published more than 200 articles, received three grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and conducted research on adolescent substance abuse and delinquency in incarcerated youth populations for much of the past 25 years. He is editor-in-chief of Social Work Research, past editor of Journal of Social Service Research, serves on the editorial boards of nine other journals, and has reviewed publications for more than 60 scientific journals.
Michael G. Vaughn, Ph.D., is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Holds appointments in Public Policy and Epidemiology at Saint Louis University. His research includes antisocial behavior over the life-course with particular attention to psychopathy, substance abuse, self-regulation, and violence.
Dr. Brian E. Perron, Ph.D., joined the faculty at the School of Social Work, University of Michigan, after completing his Ph.D. at Washington University in Citation2007. Previously, he worked as a clinical social worker in community mental health, providing services to persons with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders. His research focuses on issues related to the quality of care for persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. He is involved in a variety of research activities, including analysis of nationally representative data and clinic-based surveys, and collaborating on field-based interventions. Dr. Perron is also interested in innovative research methodologies and provides statistical consultation for a number of projects.
Notes
1 The reader is referred to Hills’ (1965) criteria, which were developed in order to help assist researchers and clinicians determine if risk factors were causes of a particular disease or outcomes, or merely associated. Editor's note
2 The reader is asked to consider that the often used nosology “drugs of abuse” is both unscientific and misleading in that (a) it mystifies and empowers selected active chemicals into a category whose underpinnings are neither theoretically anchored nor evidence-informed and which is based upon “principles of faith” held and transmitted by a range of stakeholders representing a myriad of agendas and goals, and (b) active chemical substances of any types—”drugs”— are used or misused; living organisms can be and are all-too-often abused. Editor's note