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Substance Abuse

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Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans

Abstract

Tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse extracts a substantial societal and personal cost among the general population and among Arab Americans. The studies presented in this chapter show that tobacco, alcohol, and drug use/misuse occurs among Arab Americans, with waterpipe smoking in particular representing a growing problem. However, it is not clear how much of the difference in prevalence across substances is due to stigma and how much is due to cultural practices which may change with acculturation. Two substances have higher prevalence among Arab Americans than the general population: waterpipe smoking and binge drinking. Culturally informed prevention and treatment strategies to address substance abuse in general, and specifically waterpipe smoking and binge drinking, need to be developed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ACCESS Community Health and Research Center, 6450 Maple Street, Dearborn, MI, 48126, USA

    Adnan Hammad Ph.D. & Manal Said

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Wayne State University, 3901 Chrysler Drive, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA

    Cynthia L. Arfken Ph.D.

  3. College of Nursing and Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, 5557 Cass Avenue, OFC 366, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Virginia Hill Rice Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Adnan Hammad Ph.D.
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  2. Cynthia L. Arfken Ph.D.
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  3. Virginia Hill Rice Ph.D.
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  4. Manal Said
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Correspondence to Adnan Hammad Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA

    Sylvia C. Nassar-McMillan

  2. Department of Sociology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

    Kristine J. Ajrouch

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

    Julie Hakim-Larson

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Hammad, A., Arfken, C.L., Rice, V.H., Said, M. (2014). Substance Abuse. In: Nassar-McMillan, S., Ajrouch, K., Hakim-Larson, J. (eds) Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8238-3_13

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