Tammy W. Tam, Ph.D.

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Tammy W. Tam, Ph.D.

Background Information and Areas of Research

tam Tammy W. Tam is a scientist at ARG.

Her areas of interest include research methodology, alcohol and drug problem epidemiology, and substance abuse treatment access and utilization.

Using multilevel modeling of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), Tam’s work examines the impact of individual and state contextual factors on variations by state in substance abuse treatment needs, treatment utilization, and treatment gaps. Other studies have assessed: problem drinkers’ use of social services in different health care settings; the risks of simultaneous alcohol and drug use; and the epidemiology of alcohol problems among Asian Americans.

Her methodological work includes considerations of screening in national alcohol surveys, bias in community-based substance abuse prevalence estimates, and risk functions for alcohol-related problems.

She has a doctorate in education with a specialization in social research methodology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Selected Publications

Tam, T. & Midanik, L. (2000). The effect of screening on prevalence estimates of alcohol dependence and social consequences. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 617-621. (B865).

Tam, T. W., Weisner, C. & Mertens, J. (2000). Demographic characteristics, life context, and patterns of substance use among alcohol dependent treatment clients in an HMO. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 24, 1803-1810. (B898).

Tam, T. W., Midanik, L. T., Greenfield, T. K. & Caetano, R. (1996). Selection bias in national surveys due to screening: Implications from a county general population survey. Addiction, 91(4), 557-564. (B723)

Tam, T., Schmidt, L. & Weisner, C. (1996). Patterns in the institutional encounters of problem drinkers in a community human services network. Addiction, 91(5), 657-669. (B689)

Cherpitel, C. J., & Tam, T. (2000). Variables associated with DUI offender status among whites and Mexican Americans. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 61, 698-703. (B874)

Caetano, R., Clark, C. L. & Tam, T. (1998) Alcohol consumption among racial/ethnic minorities. Alcohol Health and Research World, 22, 233-242. (B876)

Caetano, R., Tam, T., Greenfield, T. K., Cherpitel, Cheryl J. & Midanik, L. T. (1997). DSM-IV alcohol dependence and drinking in the U.S. population: A risk analysis. Annals of Epidemiology, 7(8), 542-549. (B766)

Midanik, L.T., Tam, T. W., Greenfield, T. K. & Caetano, R. (1996). Risk functions for alcohol-related problems in a 1988 U.S. national sample. Addiction, 91(10), 1427-1437. (B631): Assesses the relationship of alcohol use and three types of alcohol-related problems from the perspective of the preventive paradox by developing risk curves for volume and number of days drinking 5 or more drinks during one day using the National Health Institute Survey of 1988.

Caetano, R. & Tam, T. W. (1995). Prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV and ICD-10 alcohol dependence: 1990 U.S. National Alcohol Survey. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 30(2), 177-186. (B642)

Weisner, C., Schmidt, L. & Tam, T. W. (1995). Assessing bias in community-based prevalence estimates: Towards an unduplicated count of problem drinkers and drug users. Addiction, 90(3), 391-406. (B614): Examines prevalence of alcohol and drug problems in general population, agency sample and non-household subsamples in a northern California county and assesses the bias in each.

Other Publications of This Author

Grants Information

Epidemiology of Alcohol Problems, P50 AA05595: Component 2: 2000 National Alcohol Survey (NAS10); Component 3: National Alcohol Survey (NAS11); Component 5: Trends in Alcohol Problems under Welfare Reform; Component 6: Comparative Cross-national ER Analysis of Alcohol and Casualty
Multi-level Analyses of the NESARC to Explain Treatment Gaps, Subcontract, R01 AA016268

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Last updating of page: January 5, 2006