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One hundred and seventy 16 to 35 year-old offspring of parents with drinking problems and 80 comparison young adults were recruited from a variety of clinical and community sources. Each was interviewed at length using a semi-structured interview and 86% were re-interviewed one year later. No between-group differences were found in current quantity of alcohol consumption nor in percentages who had ever used or were currently using illicit or prescribed drugs. However, larger numbers of offspring had commenced alcohol use in their early teens and had used other drugs in their later teens, and more offspring than comparisons were currently using alcohol in a risky way, more were using illicit drugs more than occasionally, and more were heavy smokers. These differences were not great, and gender and source of recruitment (clinical versus community) were equally important predictor variables. Analyses conducted within the offspring group offered no support for hypotheses linking adulthood risk with years of exposure, severity of childhood effects and experiences, maternal as opposed to paternal problems, or problems in the same sex parent. However, some support was found for the importance of having had two parents with drinking problems and having had a drinking parent who often drank at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An elaboration of Cartwright's (1980) model explaining agents' negative attitudes to responding to alcohol-related problems (ARPs) is presented. Rather than Role Support, Experience, Education and Self-esteem per se being seen as the main variables with effect on therapeutic attitude, it is argued that the effects of these factors are best viewed as contingent upon situational influences operating within agents' occupational contexts. An attempt was made to isolate some of these influences by comparing the work situations of 24 Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) and 24 Social Workers. Correlational data suggested that an index of Situational Constraint, although it was not independent of Role Support and Experience, could reliably predict levels of attitudes towards ARPs. It was found that CPNs expressed significantly more positive therapeutic attitudes towards drinkers than either 'long-term' generic, or medical, Social Workers, but were also working under less Situational Constraint. It is concluded that social workers do not attain such deep levels of involvement in ARPs as CPNs owing to their more constraining work environments. They are, therefore, less open to ARP educational events and are less likely to develop role support contacts. Recommendations for future role support provision and training programmes are briefly outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-six clients of a clinical psychology service were assigned, in accordance with a three-step design which involved a random element, to abstinence (ABST) or controlled drinking (CD), and were followed up to 12 months after initial assessment. No support was found for the dependence hypothesis: those with higher levels of dependence/severity assigned to CD and those with lower levels assigned to ABST were just as likely as other clients to do welt, and there was no relationship between level of dependence/severity and the type of drinking outcome (ABST or CD). There was tentative support for the hypothesis that experience in the follow-up year would be related to initial beliefs and preferences, although these were not independent of treatment type. The present report is not able to comment on the prediction of outcome in the longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents several commentaries on an article regarding a model of behavior change in alcohol, drug and work addiction. Criticisms and concerns of the transtheoretical model; Indications of addictive disorders; Relevance of the models of change to the study of psychology.

Presents comments on Tim Stockwell's paper in the 'What I'd Like to Know' series entitled 'Cracking an Old Chestnut: Is controlled drinking possible for the person who has been severely alcohol dependent,' published in 'British Journal of Addiction'.