Alcohol abuse is often considered a young person's rite of passage and part of the maturing process. Indeed, the developmental periods when alcohol misuse and abuse are highest are those of adolescence and early adulthood. The focus for alcohol use research and funding over the years has been with adolescent prevention and intervention. Because of this focus on adolescents, little is being done to explore and to learn more about adult use and adult entry into treatment. Since the average age of the population is increasing, these attitudes toward alcohol use and treatment are no longer valid. Use, misuse, and abuse of alcohol in adulthood, especially that leading to addiction and then treatment, is a problem within the United States (US) that merits careful attention. The purpose of this dissertation research is to investigate specific aspects of entry into alcohol abuse treatment across stages of the life course. The investigation used the sequential life course theory of Levinson as the primary guiding theory and incorporated those aspects of Bronfenbrenner's social ecology theory used by Levinson. Specifically, with a population of approximately 94,000, this research examined the differences among individuals who began alcohol abuse treatment in mid-life and who experienced variations in time duration from the age of first use to the age of first treatment. Additionally, this research evaluated the timing of treatment episodes in light of the transitions within the life course as outlined by Levinson. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester 2003. / Date of Defense: May 14, 2003. / Alcohol, Abuse, Treatment, Across stages of the life / Includes bibliographical references. / C. Aaron McNeece, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rebecca Miles, Outside Committee Member; Dianne F. Harrison, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_168047 |
| Contributors | Allgood, Jane G. (authoraut), McNeece, C. Aaron (professor directing dissertation), Miles, Rebecca (outside committee member), Harrison, Dianne F. (committee member), College of Social Work (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
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