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Truth or consequences in the diagnosis of substance use disorders
Author(s) -
Martin Christopher S.,
Langenbucher James W.,
Chung Tammy,
Sher Kenneth J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/add.12615
Subject(s) - psychosocial , substance use , addiction , psychiatry , narrative review , public health , psychology , narrative , substance dependence , clinical psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , linguistics , philosophy , nursing
Aims This commentary critically evaluates the use of substance‐related negative psychosocial and health consequences to define and diagnose alcohol and other substance use disorders. Methods Narrative review. Results The consequences of substance use cause much suffering and are major public health and economic problems. However, there are a number of conceptual and measurement problems with using consequences as diagnostic criteria for substance disorders. Data indicate that substance‐related consequences introduce systematic bias and degrade the validity of diagnostic systems. Conclusions Negative psychosocial and health consequences of substance use should play a fundamentally reduced role in modern diagnostic systems for, and definitions of, addictive disorders.