Advances in Substance Abuse and Addiction—2nd Edition

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 18 March 2026 | Viewed by 240

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Center for Drug Abuse and Addiction, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan
2. Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
Interests: addiction medicine; opioid pharmacology; cell biology; data analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
2. Department of Psychiatry, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, 1650 Taiwan Boulevard Sect. 4, Xitun District, Taichung 407, Taiwan
Interests: psychiatry; schizophrenia; neurochemical and pharmacogenetic mechanisms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail
Guest Editor
1. Tsaotun Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Nan-Tou County 54249, Taiwan
2. Ph.D. Program for Aging, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan
Interests: addiction medicine; substance misuse; addictive disorders intervention
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We warmly invite you to contribute to the 2nd Edition of “Advances in Substance Abuse and Addiction”, which follows on from the first volume: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/V053X1CHO8.

Building on the solid foundation of the previous issue, this Special Issue, titled “Advances in Substance Abuse and Addiction—2nd Edition”, aims to collate original research, reviews, and meta-analyses that address current challenges and solutions related to substance use disorders (including those involving nicotine, alcohol, illicit drugs, and prescription drugs), providing a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers in the field of addiction medicine. The scope of this Special Issue includes neurochemical and pharmacogenetic mechanisms related to the prevention of addiction, its treatment, and the recovery process, with a focus on translational research (from bench to bedside, and vice versa). Topics of interest include in vitro and in vivo investigations of the pharmacological and behavioral effects of abused substances, the treatment of addiction, and its prevention in humans. The goal of this Special Issue is to identify emerging trends in substance use disorders and the unmet needs of people who suffer from them, and it aims to serve as a platform to connect industrial and academic communities with regulatory agencies, as well as treatment facilities, in the field of addiction medicine.

We invite suggestions for manuscripts to be included in this Special Issue. Before preparing your manuscript, please contact the Editors for a pre-arrangement of the topic.

Dr. Cynthia Wei-Sheng Lee
Prof. Dr. Tsuo-Hung Lan
Dr. Chieh-Liang Huang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • addiction medicine
  • opioid pharmacology
  • substance abuse
  • addictive disorder intervention

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Other

23 pages, 2009 KB  
Systematic Review
A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Interventions to Reduce Binge Drinking
by José-Antonio Giménez-Costa, Beatriz Martín-del-Río, Consolación Gómez-Íñiguez, Adrián García-Selva, Patricia Motos-Sellés and María-Teresa Cortés-Tomás
Life 2025, 15(11), 1709; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15111709 - 5 Nov 2025
Abstract
Binge drinking (BD) is defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption that results in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher, typically achieved after consuming approximately 70 g of pure alcohol (about five drinks for men) or 56 g (about four [...] Read more.
Binge drinking (BD) is defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption that results in a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher, typically achieved after consuming approximately 70 g of pure alcohol (about five drinks for men) or 56 g (about four drinks for women) within roughly two hours. It is highly prevalent among adolescents and young adults and has significant physical, psychological, and social consequences. Despite numerous interventions to reduce BD, there is limited systematic evidence on their effectiveness. This study presents a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating interventions to reduce BD, focusing on their impact on frequency, intensity, and associated physical, psychological, or social outcomes. The review followed PRISMA 2020, and the protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024623481). A comprehensive search was conducted in multidisciplinary and specialized databases. Included studies were RCTs targeting BD in clinical or community populations of any age. Non-empirical and observational studies, or studies not specifically focused on BD were excluded. The risk of bias was assessed using RoB 2, and a total of 21 studies (N = 14,754 participants) were included, showing high variability in design, format, and theoretical basis. Brief, individual digital interventions predominated, although face-to-face group and multimodal interventions proved more effective. Eleven studies reported significant reductions in BD frequency or prevalence; fewer addressed intensity. Interventions based on motivational and cognitive behavioral approaches, especially in structured programmes with prolonged follow-up, were the most effective. Improvements were observed in psychosocial variables (e.g., negative consequences, self-efficacy, expectations, social norms, and intention to consume), but not in physical health or consumption of other substances. Most studies had a moderate risk of bias, and few demonstrated long-term effects. More robust, comparative, and longitudinal studies are needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Substance Abuse and Addiction—2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop