Internet-based interventions for alcohol, tobacco and other substances of abuse

Publisher Summary This chapter provides a summary of the state of Internet-based interventions (IBIs) for substance abuse to-date. There are a variety of different websites available that provide help for substance abusers— from those that are purely informational through to fully developed IBIs. Almost all IBIs have some sort of home page that describes the website and, depending on the quality of the site, provides information on the developers as well as freely available educational materials about the substance of concern. IBIs for smoking also usually contain such diaries and all serve to allow participants to track the patterns of their substance use and identify times and situations where they have most difficulty in dealing with their substance abuse concerns. There is also an array of components that can be included in an IBI to promote continued participation and motivate change over time. The potential worth of the Internet as a means of providing services for those with substance abuse concerns is accessibility. One of the issues in considering the potential worth of the Internet as a means of providing services for those with substance abuse concerns is accessibility. It is found that many substance abusers have regular access to the Internet and substance abuse exists on a continuum out of which a vast majority of substance abusers have mild to moderate rather than severe addictions concerns.