Effects of Alcohol Misuse

Introduction

Alcohol abuse is a growing problem on college campuses across the country. The issues of this abuse should be continually examined by the interested public as well as studied by experts and professionals who work in fields involving young adults, fields relating to addiction, medical researchers and others. Reliable information relating to this topic is published in both trade journals and scholarly articles. A trade journal is an industry specific journal, magazine, or newspaper. Professionals write articles for printing in trade journals for other professionals to promote education and aid others in improving their skills.

Scholarly articles are authored by experts and specialists of a particular field and are research-based. These peer-reviewed articles are evaluated by experts for validity and reliability. This paper contains a rhetorical analysis of a trade journal article and a scholarly article in order to explain the dependability of these publications for credible information relating to the topic of alcohol abuse and misuse among youth and college-age students.

Summary of Alcohol Misuse Still Outweighs Opioid Misuse

The purpose of Alcohol Misuse Still Outweighs Opioid Misuse (Spring 2018) by J. Miller is to bring attention to the growing problem of alcohol misuse. The article discusses how law makers are appropriating funding to aid in the prevention and treatment of the increasing opioid misuse while alcohol misuse is not given the same consideration. Not taking away from any drug issue, records indicate that there are twice as many alcohol related cases as drug cases (Miller, J. (Spring 2018) par 4).

Summary of The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students

The purpose of The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students (2005) by Donald W.

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Zeigler, Ph. D., Claire C. Wang, M.D., Richard A. Yoast, Ph. D., Barry D. Dickinson, Ph. D., Mary Anne McCaffree, M.D., Carolyn B. Robinowitz, M.D., and Melvyn L. Sterling, M.D. for the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Accociation is to educate others on the effects that alcohol has on young adults. The article explains how alcohol consumption is problematic for underage drinkers. Data indicates that youths now take their first drink at the age of 12 years (p.24, Results, par 1). Binge drinking is a concern that is very prevalent and occurs frequently with college-age students which directly impairs study habits and overall school performance. When under the influence of alcohol, there are many incidents which can occur such as auto accidents, suicide attempts, alcohol poisoning, sexual misconduct, and even death. This article explains the scientific side of how alcohol negatively affects a young person’s brain function, learning, reasoning, and memory. Along with the effects that alcohol consumption has on young adults, the article discusses long-term consequences of alcohol and how society influences drinking. While drinking is a personal choice, Zeigler et al. (2005) discusses ways to counteract youth drinking which includes how and where alcohol is sold, education of parents and youth, and the need for policymakers and physicians to address the issue.

Publications

Behavioral Healthcare Executive is a trade publication which includes information on mental health, drug abuse, and substance abuse treatment. It publishes articles based primarily on mental health and substance abuse issues. Articles such as, Alcohol Misuse Still Outweighs Opioid Misuse provide the viewpoints of many trusted professionals in the field of substance abuse treatment. Behavioral Healthcare Executive supplies industry professionals with reliable articles to aid in increasing their education. This publication provides a platform for research and knowledge for the public and professionals. Julie Miller, Editor in Chief, has more than 14 years of experience in various areas of the health care industry. She is an award-winning journalist in behavioral health, addiction, managed care, and pharmaceuticals. Based on these characteristics, the public and professionals alike could seek credible information from Behavioral Healthcare Executive.

Preventive Medicine is the scholarly journal which published The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students. This journal provides reliable articles on public health. Eduardo L. Franco is the Editor-in-Chief for Preventive Medicine. As a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill holding a graduate degree in Public Health Microbiology and Parasitology, he also studied at National Institute of Health, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and Louisiana State University while training in cancer epidemiology. Franco formerly served on many prestigious editorial boards and was also awarded with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Warwick Prize along with other lifetime achievement awards. Preventive Medicine speaks on all aspects of preventive medicine and public health. It publishes many original articles on the science and practice of disease prevention and health promotion. Preventive Medicine published works includes research that impacts practitioners and other related disciplines. Based on these characteristics, Preventive Medicine is a credible resource.

Organization

Trade articles and scholarly articles must have organization. The trade article Alcohol Misuse Still Outweighs Opioid Misuse (Spring 2018) by J. Miller, relates many facts. The article is written to be understood by the general public or professionals. While the article is organized in supplying researched information, it does not include headings or numbered or bulleted lists. These features are more common in scholarly articles.

The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students (2005) by D. Zeigler et al. published in Preventive Medicine has many organizational characteristics. Due to the lengthiness of the article, the authors use headings to identify sections such as Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Reference. There are subheadings included such as “acute alcohol intoxication”, “development of the brain in adolescents”, and “disruption of learning and memory by alcohol: effects on hippocampus” (Zeigler, D. et al., 2005, p. 26). These subheadings divide the article into easily understood sections for a professional or other individuals. Another example of organization is a table with a bulleted list. On page 27 of The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol, a table lists three bullets which includes the “Effects of alcohol exposure on rodents” (Zeigler, D. et al., 2005, p. 27) The Reference section provides detailed information on researched material.

Language

The way that an article is worded usually depends upon the audience for whom it is written. Reviewing the language used in the trade article and scholarly article helps determine the type of article it is. The trade article is generally written by an expert to an audience within their field or the general public who has interest in the subject. This article quotes other reliable sources such as The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in writing “the rate of emergency room visits related to chronic alcohol consumption increased 58% between 2006 and 2014” as well as Trust for America’s Health in saying, “alcohol-induced deaths increased 37% between 2000 and 2015, with 33,200 deaths in 2015 alone”. (Miller, J., Spring 2018, par 5) Experts in related fields recognize these organizations as part of their trade. A scholarly article uses language for a higher educated audience. It generally includes an abstract to summarize the sections of the article as well as key words included in the article. These key words are listed for reference so the individual reading the article can review these terms. Some key words included are adolescent, binge drinking, and high-risk drinking. (Zeigler, D. et al., 2005, p. 23)

Evidence

Both scholarly and trade authors present evidence to validate the credibility of their articles. In the trade article Alcohol Misuse Outweighs Opioid Misuse (Spring 2018) by Julie Miller, statistics are used to reinforce the legitimacy of her writing. Examples include a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study being cited saying, “we’re consuming 17.5 billion binge drinks a year” (Miller, J., Spring 2018 par 5), and The National Survey on Drug Use and Health findings of “an estimated 15.1 million people had an alcohol use disorder in 2016” which is twice the number of illicit drug use disorder (7.4 million) (Miller, J., Spring 2018 par 4). The evidence presented in scholarly articles generally includes supporting graphs, tables, and lists, although the scholarly article The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol includes little to none. The article includes an excessive number of references to support its research. Multiple articles are cited as well as organization’s statistics are included throughout the article.

Conclusion

Both authors make valid points when speaking on alcohol abuse and the vast problem it is in society today. Both articles agree that alcohol misuse in college students and youth is a significant problem to be addressed. Experts, professionals, physicians, or anyone wanting to be educated on alcohol abuse and misuse should study trade journals and scholarly articles which have been peer-reviewed to garnish reliable, credible information to learn about the seriousness of alcohol abuse. The rhetorical analysis of these articles proves that each article is dependable from organization, language, and evidence. Trade journals are written for professionals in a particular trade while scholarly articles includes information for people who wish to expand their knowledge.