Alcohol and Substance Use Initiation, Escalation and Recovery

Abstract

Welcome to the first issue of the 41st volume of the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly (ATQ). Of particular note is that this volume and issue mark the ATQ’s 13th year of publication with Taylor & Francis. Over the years, we have found our partnership with the publishing house to be effective and helpful in presenting high quality research related to alcohol use disorders (AUD) and other substances use disorders (SUD). Our thanks are extended to all involved. In the next section, we provide a brief overview of the articles included in this issue. Each article contains thoughtful and beneficial information across alcohol and substance use disorder science within several themes. This issue includes several articles with insights about perceptions and decision-making as they relate to alcohol and substance use initiation, escalation and/or recovery. Each work has something for relevant for healthcare professionals, educators and researchers. In the first section of this issue, a study regarding the internalized stigma and self-esteem within individuals with alcohol and risky substance use disorder is presented. Akhan and Gezgin Yazici present research from a study with 233 participants undergoing treatment for AUD or SUD at a training hospital. They sought to determine the internalized stigma and self-esteem levels of patients and identify related influential factors, and then explored correlations alcohol and substance use disorder progression. The results indicate that selfesteem and internalized stigma can be important concepts to explore in clinical settings as both may be related to progression. Nichols and colleagues explored the association between problem drinking, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Their goal was to expound on the literature and provide more precision for examining links between AUD, major depression, and suicidal ideation. These authors drew from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (ITOS) and utilized structural equation modeling to explore a complex phenomenon. The next articles present relevant and useful information specific to women and recovery. First, Nowakowski-Sims and Ferrante present their findings from a qualitative study centered around Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (IBMS) practice among women in a residential recovery program. In this research article the authors detail the need for a gender-responsive approaches to the treatment process. The authors reported that IBMS may be useful as an alternative coping mechanism to alcohol and substance use. Next, Antunes de Campos and colleagues share ethnographic research detailing how women in Brazil conceive and experience their recovery from AUD. This article presents information that contributes to the understanding of gender inequalities in peer self-help group settings. Owens, Banta-Green and Newman provide a thought-provoking piece on a recovery community center model. The authors utilized a grounded theory qualitative approach to explore the perceptions of staff and member facilitators regarding their ideas about which components of the center model were helpful. Among the several themes that emerged from the research, the authors highlighted concepts, such as recovery capital and mechanisms of recovery, that merit further research. ALCOHOLISM TREATMENT QUARTERLY 2023, VOL. 41, NO. 1, 1–2 https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2022.2149916