ABSTRACT

Background: Historically, drug abuse described the negative consequences of drug use as a proxy measure of maladaptive behavior that manifests within the addiction process. Negative consequences can span multiple domains including physical (e.g., blacking out), psychological (e.g., mood shifts), interpersonal (e.g., relationship problems), social (e.g., drinking and driving), and economic (e.g., job loss) problems. Objective: In determining the appropriate terminology to describe the phenomenon under investigation, researchers should consider (1) the theoretical objective (i.e., substance use construct under investigation) and (2) the research methodology being employed. Results: Problem substance use is appropriate for describing the outcome of interest when conducting cross-sectional, or pre-post, designs where investigators are interested in a snapshot of problems associated with substance use behavior. Conversely, substance misuse reflects a pattern of negative consequences over time and is appropriate when conducting longitudinal research with three or more time points. Here, substance misuse captures a pattern of substance use problems over time that may be indicative of a substance use disorder. These terms should be distinguished from studies investigating the frequency (how often) and quantity (how much) of a substance is being used where risky substance use is appropriate for cross-sectional studies and heavy substance use is appropriate for longitudinal studies. Conclusion: This framework is intended to describe the phenomena being investigated (i.e., the variable) and not the person or people experiencing a substance use problem. We should continue the dialogue of semantics in science realizing that our choice of words has important “real world” ramifications for the populations we serve.

摘要

背景：从历史上看，药物滥用将药物使用的负面后果描述为成瘾过程中表现出的适应不良行为的替代措施。负面后果可以跨越多个领域，包括身体（例如，昏迷）、心理（例如，情绪转变）、人际关系（例如，关系问题）、社会（例如，酒后驾车）和经济（例如，失业）问题。目标：在确定描述所调查现象的适当术语时，研究人员应考虑 (1) 理论目标（即正在调查的物质使用结构）和 (2) 所采用的研究方法。结果：问题物质使用适用于在进行横断面或事前设计时描述感兴趣的结果，其中调查人员对与物质使用行为相关的问题的快照感兴趣。相反，物质滥用反映了随着时间的推移产生负面后果的模式，在进行三个或更多时间点的纵向研究时是合适的。在这里，物质滥用捕获了随着时间的推移可能表明物质使用障碍的物质使用问题的模式。这些术语应与调查物质使用频率（频率）和数量（多少）的研究区分开来，其中风险物质使用适用于横断面研究，而大量物质使用适用于纵向研究。结论：该框架旨在描述正在调查的现象（即变量），而不是经历物质使用问题的一个或多个人。我们应该继续科学中的语义对话，意识到我们选择的词语对我们服务的人群具有重要的“现实世界”影响。