Why People Drink; How People Change: A Guide to Alcohol and People’s Motivation for Drinking It

Preface
	References
Contents
Chapter 1: Alcohol Use and Abuse in Everyday Life: The Centrality of Motivation
	What Is Alcohol?
	Why People Say They Drink
	Motives for Drinking
	What Science Reveals
	Some People Drink Too Much
	How Much Is Too Much?
		Governmental Guidelines
		Legal Drinking Age
	Evaluating One’s Own Drinking
	Formal Diagnoses: Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol Dependence, and Harmful Alcohol Use
	Theories of Alcohol Addiction
	References
Chapter 2: How People Decide What They Want, Including Having a Drink of Alcohol
	How Brains Evolved to Pursue Goals
	The Nature of Goals
	The Wide-Ranging Effects of Goals
	Drinking Alcohol as a Goal
	Heavy Alcohol Consumption: Merely a Choice or a Disease?
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 3: Alcohol and Its Effects on the Body
	Absorption
	Distribution
	Alcohol in the Brain
		Neurotransmitters
	Alcohol-Induced Blackout
	Hangover
	Alcohol Withdrawal
	Chronic Effects of Excessive Drinking
		Liver Disease
		Cardiovascular Disease
		Brain Damage
		Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
	The Burden of Disease Attributable to Alcohol
	How the Brain Supports People’s Motivation to Drink
	References
Chapter 4: Genetics of Alcoholism
	Family Studies
	Adoption Studies
	Twin Studies
	What Is Inherited?
		Stress-Response Dampening
		Aversive Reactions to Alcohol
		Low Sensitivity to Alcohol
		Differentiator Model
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 5: Personality and Alcohol Use
	Important Constituents of Personality: Goals, Values, and Emotions
	Alcohol and Emotions
	Addiction: Permanent Disease or Manageable Condition?
	Personality Differences and Consuming Alcohol Excessively
	Depression, Rumination, and Alcohol Use
	Depression, Protective Behavioral Strategies, and Alcohol Use
	Within-Person Affect Levels and Alcohol Use
	Self-Control Problems and Alcohol Overuse
	Ways to Manage Overconsumption of Alcohol: Implications of Personality Differences
	References
Chapter 6: Sociocultural and Environmental Influences on Drinking Behavior
	Global Patterns of Alcohol Use
	Sociocultural Variations
		Religious Restrictions on Alcohol Use
		The Mediterranean (Wet) Pattern of Drinking
		The Northern European Pattern of Drinking
		Heavy Episodic Drinking
	Environmental Influences on Drinking Behavior
	Sociocultural Transmission of Drinking Habits
		Social Learning Theory
		Collectivity of Drinking Cultures
		Drunken Comportment
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 7: Why Drink Alcohol At All? Motives and Expectancies: The Role of Expectancies
	The Role of Goals as Motives
	Four Kinds of Motives for Drinking Alcohol
	Pre-drinking
	Negative Motives for Drinking Alcohol
	The Role of Motivational Structure
	Conclusions
	References
Chapter 8: Ways to Control Drinking: Changing the Motivational Nexus
	The Addiction Trap
	Self-Change of Alcohol Use
	Principles that Govern Individuals’ Decisions and Abilities to Control Alcohol Consumption
	Values and Expectancies in Decision-Making, Including as Related to Drinking Alcohol
	The Role of Self-Control
	The Importance of Support by Others
	Harvard Medical School’s Suggestions
	Organizational Resources for Supporting Control of Alcohol Consumption
	Systematic Motivational Counseling
	Alcohol Attention-Control Training Programme (AACTP)
	Life Enhancement and Advancement Programme (LEAP)
	Conclusions
	Final Suggestions for People Who Want to Start
	References
Index