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. 2014 Nov;109(11):1773-8.
doi: 10.1111/add.12615. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Truth or consequences in the diagnosis of substance use disorders

Christopher S Martin  1 , James W Langenbucher, Tammy Chung, Kenneth J Sher
Affiliations

Truth or consequences in the diagnosis of substance use disorders

Christopher S Martin et al. Addiction. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Addiction; Alcohol Use Disorders; Substance Use Disorders; diagnosis; health consequences; psychosocial consequences.

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