Shoshana Weiss
Alcohol Research Unit, Nahariya, Israel
Immigration and Mental Health: Stress, Psychiatric Disorders and Suicidal Behavior Among Immigrants and Refugees. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2010, 350 pages.

This chapter attempts to cover the current state of alcohol use among immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel, as a continuation of a previous publication which reviewed studies published in the professional literature (mainly in Hebrew) and referred to an earlier period from the beginning of the 1990s until 2006. This chapter reviews studies published (also mainly in Hebrew) from January 2007 through June 2009 and describes alcohol use patterns and treatment among FSU immigrants. As in the previous review, the present review confirms the findings that alcohol use among FSU immigrants continues to be more prevalent than among the general Jewish-Israel society and that FSU immigrants continue to be over-represented in treatment programs. Recommendations for future research activities include the need for a special research focus on specific groups of FSU immigrants not covered in current Israeli research.