Understanding Drug Use over the Life Course: Past, Present, and Future

• Author: Yih-Ing Hser,Noosha Niv,Alison Hamilton
• Published date: 01 January 2009
• Date: 01 January 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/002204260903900119
• Subject Matter: Article

© 2009 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/09/01 231-236

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Yih-Ing Hser, Ph.D., is Professor-in-residence in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral

Sciences. She specializes in drug abuse treatment process and outcome evaluation, health services

research, and quantitative methods particularly regarding longitudinal research. Alison Hamilton, Ph.D.,

is assistant research anthropologist at Integrated Substance Abuse Programs in the UCLA Department of

Psychiatry. She specializes in qualitative research on women’s health with a focus on substance abuse

and mental illness. Noosha Niv, Ph.D., is Associate Director of the Education and Dissemination Unit of

the Veterans Affairs Desert Pacif‌i c Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC).

She specializes in treatment of substance use disorders among ethnic minorities and individuals with

mental health disorders.

UNDERSTANDING DRUG USE OVER THE LIFE COURSE:

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

YIH-ING HSER, ALISON HAMILTON, NOOSHA NIV

Over the past 20 years, much exciting addiction research has been conducted.

Extensive knowledge has been gathered about comorbid issues, particularly mental

health disorders, HIV, and criminal justice involvement. Health services addiction

research has become increasingly sophisticated, shifting its focus from patients to

consider also services, organizations, and f‌i nancing structures. Furthermore, through

several long-term follow-up studies, empirical evidence convincingly demonstrates

that drug dependence is not an acute disorder, and is best understood through a

life course perspective with an emphasis on chronicity. This article highlights three

major directions for future addiction research: developing strategies for chronic

care (including longitudinal intervention studies), furthering cross-system linkage

and coordination, and utilizing innovative methods (e.g., growth curve modeling,

longitudinal mixed methods research) to strengthen the evidence base for the life

course perspective on drug addiction.

INTRODUCTION

Some 20 years ago, when I was a new Ph.D., Doug Anglin took me to a gathering

similar to this Ref‌l ections meeting in New Jersey that was hosted by Jerry Platt.

At that meeting, I met many of the top researchers in the f‌i eld of drug addiction.

I am pleased to know that many of the same researchers who were in New Jersey

also participated in this “Ref‌l ections” meeting and remain as productive as ever.

Since that meeting 20 years ago, much exciting research and many ground-breaking