| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Developments in the assessment and treatment of addictive behaviors, edited by Ted D. Nirenberg and Stephan A. Maisto (see record 1987-98442-000). The editors identify two goals of this book: "The first is to provide a review of the recent treatment advances for each of the addictions. The second is to highlight similarities among the addictions in etiology, maintenance and treatment." My reading of the book prompted a sense of limited recent progress on treatment effectiveness and much important work yet to be done in understanding commonalities among addictive behaviors. The book's 15 chapters are organized into 4 parts: Introduction, Assessment of Addictive Behaviors, Treatment of Addictive Behaviors, and Special Issues. The variability of chapter quality was considerable, but the reviewer found at least one outstanding contribution in each part. Overall, the reviewer was disappointed that the book made only passing reference to the high prevalence of cannabis and cocaine abuse and omitted any mention of assessment or treatment of patients abusing these drugs in isolation or in combination with other addictive behaviors. On the other hand, by juxtaposing some provocative reviews of work on obesity and abuse of alcohol, opiates, and tobacco the authors at least succeed in raising the issue of commonality in a way that will hopefully encourage more integrated work in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
