Governors State University OPUS Open Portal to University Scholarship Faculty Research and Creative Activity 4-1-2013 Mapping the Literature of Addictions Treatment Paul M. Blobaum University Library, Governors State University Follow this and additional works at: http://opus.govst.edu/faculty Part of the Collection Development and Management Commons Recommended Citation Blobaum, Paul M. “Mapping the Literature of Addictions Treatment”. Journal of the Medical Library Association, vol. 101 (2), April 2013, p.101-110. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.101.2.005 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by OPUS Open Portal to University Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Research and Creative Activity by an authorized administrator of OPUS Open Portal to University Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mapping the literature of addictions treatment Paul M. Blobaum, MA, MS See end of article for author’s affiliation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.101.2.005 Objectives: This study analyzes and describes the one-third of the cited journal references. Drug and literature of addictions treatment and indexing Alcohol Dependence was the most frequently cited coverage for core journals in the field. journal. The frequency of cited addictions journals, formats cited, age of citations, and indexing coverage Methods: Citations from three source journals for the is identified. years 2008 through 2010 were analyzed using the 2010 Mapping the Literature of Nursing and Allied Health Conclusions: Addictions treatment literature is Professions Project Protocol. The distribution of cited widely dispersed among multidisciplinary journals was analyzed by applying Bradford’s Law of publications with relatively few publications Scattering. providing most of the citations. Results of this study will help researchers, students, clinicians, and Results: More than 40,000 citations were analyzed. librarians identify the most important journals and Journals (2,655 unique titles) were the most frequently bibliographic indexes in this field, as well as cited form of literature, with 10 journals providing publishing opportunities. INTRODUCTION Highlights This study uses the research methodology devised by the Task Force on Bibliographic Access for the Allied N Counseling literature is underrepresented in the core Health Literature, Nursing and Allied Health Re- literature of addictions treatment. sources Section (NAHRS) of the Medical Library N As in other mapping studies, journals were most Association (MLA) [1]. This NAHRS task force was frequently cited, followed by books. formed in 1993 to study the literature of allied health N Addictions treatment literature draws most frequently fields in order to identify core journals in a discipline, from the literature of drug and alcohol abuse, medicine, ‘‘core’’ being defined as those journals that are most psychiatry, psychology, public health, pharmacology, significant and important for scholarly communica- neurology, and brain science, among others. tion in a subject and valuable for a library’s research collection. Additional goals were to analyze the Implications formats and features of cited materials and provide quantitative evidence for collection development for N Librarians, educators, and researchers should as- librarians. Schloman described the project’s original sess their collections and research tools and revise rationale: instruction strategies accordingly. Because bibliographic references that appear in journal N Both the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE and articles provide a measurable path of information transfer the American Psychological Association’s PsycINFO occurring within a field, it is possible to assess quantita- databases should be searched for comprehensive tively the characteristics of the literature of that field: the searches of the addictions treatment literature. type of literature used, its currency, the core journals, and the extent of dispersion of the journal literature. [2] As of October 2012, more than thirty-four studies of the literature of nursing, nursing subspecialties, and suffering from alcoholism or from another drug addiction, allied health disciplines have been published in the and which is designed to enable the affected individual to Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) and its achieve and maintain sobriety, physical, spiritual and mental predecessor title, the Bulletin of the Medical Library health, and a maximum functional ability. [3] Association (BMLA). The Public Policy Statement on Treatment for Alcohol The ASAM Patient Placement Criteria for the Treat- and Other Drug Addiction issued by the American ment of Substance-Related Disorders are the officially Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in 2010 recognized criteria adopted in thirty states to appro- defines treatment as: priately place persons with addictions and any co- occurring disorders into the treatment system [4]. the use of any planned, intentional intervention in the health, behavior, personal and/or family life of an individual Overview of and trends in addictions treatment in the United States Supplemental Table 6 is available with the online version of The definition of addiction and what to do about it this journal. have been in dispute throughout history. Miller and J Med Lib Assoc 101(2) April 2013 101 Blobaum Carroll noted that ‘‘the names used to describe because many more will have insurance, and those phenomena affect the ways in which one thinks about with insurance will have coverage for addiction a problem and what to do about it’’ [5]. Prior to the treatment. 1960s, alcoholism and drug addiction were often Currently, treatment primarily takes place in understood as either a problem originating in choice, specialized treatment facilities (68%) or mental health character flaws, or a moral failing. The present facilities (5%), according to a 2010 Substance Abuse addictions treatment field emerged in the 1960s and and Mental Health Services Administration (SAM- 1970s, with the development of medical approaches HSA) survey of 15,390 eligible treatment facilities [10]. that were very different from the self-help and Most treatment takes place on an outpatient basis religious approaches prominent in the United States (90%). Only a fraction of treatment takes place in [6]. By then, the American Medical Association (AMA) hospital settings (less than 1%), while 9% takes place and other medical groups officially recognized alco- in residential settings, but this is anticipated to holism as a physical disease process, although this change. view was met with stiff opposition from recovery Staffing of treatment facilities varies, depending on communities such as Alcoholics Anonymous [5]. state and local law and diagnosis of any co-occurring Today, modern medicine widely upholds the AMA mental disorders or physical findings [21]. Profes- view, paving the way for establishing addiction sionals from counseling, rehabilitation, social work, medicine as a medical specialty. In 2011, ASAM medicine, criminal justice, nursing, and psychology adopted a statement that expanded on the findings of disciplines are most commonly involved in treatment, recent neuroimaging research, stating that not only the and most of these fields have credentialing programs brain’s reward circuitry, but also memory, motivation, [22, 23] (Table 1). The typical addiction treatment and other neurological phenomena are involved in program in the United States employs mostly coun- addiction [7]. The ASAM definition is likely to have selors, each treating a caseload of 60 to 80 clients; very broad implications for the criminal justice system and few other professional disciplines are represented in law, primary care and specialized medical practice, most programs [24]. The Bureau of Labor Statistics public policy, and public health, as well as the (BLS) reported 86,100 addictions counselors were addictions treatment and counseling fields [8]. How- employed in 2008, and that number was expected to ever, the inclusion of sex, gambling, and Internet grow ‘‘much faster than average’’ for other occupa- addictions as true addictions continues to be in tions [14]. Over 18,000 additional counselors are dispute, especially between the fields of medicine, forecasted to be added to the system, for a projected psychology, and counseling. employment of 104,200 by the year 2018. The problem of who can help and how an addict or Other professionals such as pastoral counselors and alcoholic can be helped is also somewhat controversial. marital and family therapists may also work in the Self-help communities of recovery such as Alcoholics treatment field, providing a variety of skills and Anonymous have helped many, but medical interven- perspectives in treatment and support of recovery. tions now offer new hope based on research. The master’s degree is considered the professional level of practice in the treatment field, although Treatment settings counselor certification also exists for high school Hospital-based addiction treatment programs prolif- diploma and bachelor’s degree–prepared profession- erated in the 1980s due to the willingness of private als who work under supervision [9, 10, 15]. A health insurance plans to pay for in-patient detoxifi- combination of education hours or degrees and cation stays but were drastically reduced and shifted clinical practice hours is required for certification. to outpatient treatment in the 1990s under managed