APA Addiction Syndrome Handbook

This two-volume handbook provides a comprehensive review of addiction.


Volume 1 has an introduction and three sections focusing on the background and history of addiction, the distal and proximal influences on addiction, and the expressions of addiction; the latter includes chapter discussions about the universal and unique consequences of addiction.


Volume 2 also has three major sections. These sections examine the many aspects associated with recovery from addiction, the prevention of addiction, and other essential issues commonly associated with addiction, such as technology, driving under the influence, and homelessness. There is also a Foreword in Volume 1 and an Epilogue in Volume 2 that provide insight and perspective about the addiction syndrome and the place of this handbook within the development of a science of addiction.


Editor-in-chief Howard J. Shaffer asked contributors to consider their areas of interest with respect to the addiction syndrome model. In addition, to advance the conceptual framework that guides addiction research and treatment, contributors were asked to provide evidence to support or refute the addiction syndrome model.


Dr. Shaffer hopes this approach will stimulate an enthusiastic dialogue that can advance the field by revising and improving the etiological models that provide the guiding wisdom about addiction and its causes and consequences.

Howard J. Shaffer, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Division on Addictions at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.


Dr. Shaffer also is licensed as a clinical psychologist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and certified by the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology. He has more than 35 years of treatment experience; during his career, he has studied and treated the full range of addiction expressions (e.g., gambling, opioid, cocaine, nicotine, shopping, computer, sexual dependence).


Dr. Shaffer's major interests include the social perception of addiction and disease, the philosophy of science, impulse control regulation and compulsive behaviors, addiction treatment outcome, and the natural history of addictive behaviors. He writes extensively about the treatment of addictive behaviors and the nature of addiction. His most recent book, Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life: Strategies for Managing Your Gambling and Improving Your Finances, Relationships, and Health, was released in February 2012.


Additionally, he is a Fellow of the APA and the former editor of the Journal of Gambling Studies and the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. His clinical and research work has been an influential force in shaping how the field views and treats addiction.


In 2010, Dr. Shaffer received the APA Division 50 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Advancing the Understanding of Addictions.


In addition to maintaining an active private practice and being a member of many scientific editorial boards and review panels, Dr. Shaffer consults internationally to a variety of organizations in business, education, human services, and government. He also has served on the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, and the Committee on the Social and Economic Impacts of Pathological Gambling.