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Prevalence of the Addictions: A Problem of the Majority or the Minority?
An increasing number of research studies over the last three decades suggest that a wide range of substance and process addictions may serve similar functions.
The current article considers 11 such potential addictions
- tobacco,
- alcohol,
- illicit drugs,
- eating,
- gambling,
- Internet,
- love,
- sex,
- exercise,
- work, and
- shopping,
Their prevalence, and co-occurrence, based on a systematic review of the literature. Data from 83 studies (each study n = at least 500 subjects) were presented and supplemented with small-scale data.
Depending on which assumptions are made, overall;
- 12-month prevalence of an addiction among U.S. adults varies from 15% to 61%.
- The authors assert that it is most plausible that 47% of the U.S. adult population suffers from maladaptive signs of an addictive disorder over a 12-month period and
- that it may be useful to think of addictions as due to problems of lifestyle as well as to person-level factors.
Eval Health Prof March 2011 vol. 34 no. 1 3-56
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