Addiction Audio

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Lavinia Baltes, Head of Research at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Services Aargau, Switzerland. The interview covers her research report on a randomised control trial of public health-oriented recreational cannabis access compared to illegal market access in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland. ·      The current legal landscape in Switzerland with respect to cannabis [01:12]·      The difference between cannabis obtained legally and illegally [02:30]·      The potential benefits of legal cannabis compared to illegal cannabis [03:25]·      The key findings of the study [04:20]·      Speculations about why the people who used drugs other than cannabis were more likely to reduce their cannabis use [05:31]·      The findings that surprised the author [06:52]·      How the findings contribute to policy or practice [07:37]·      Could access to legal cannabis increase initiation among those who have never used cannabis? [08:32]·      The importance of harm reduction strategies for cannabis [10:50]·      The difficulties in conducting a randomised control trial [11:35]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About Lavinia Baltes: Dr Baltes studied psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and completed her PhD in health psychology at the University of Basel and at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin in 2015. She then worked at the University of Mannheim and later as deputy head of the Addiction Department of the Canton Basel-Stadt, contributing significantly to the ‘Weed Care’ study on regulated cannabis sales in Basel. Since 2022, she has been Head of Research at the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychiatric Services Aargau, and continues as deputy study head of ‘Weed Care’.The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Original article: Effects of legal access versus illegal market cannabis on use and mental health: A randomized controlled trial - https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70080The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Danilo Romero, a licensed clinical psychologist at the Stockholm Centre for Dependency Disorders in Sweden. The interview covers his research report on the questionable generalisability of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test – Consumption (AUDIT-C) when used as an outcome measure in clinical trials than as a primary care screening tool, highlighting the need for researchers and clinicians to reconsider their application of the AUDIT-C. ·      What is the AUDIT-C and why it is widely used in primary care and research? [01:13]·      What made the authors question the generalisability of the AUDIT-C in clinical trials? [02:02]·      The risks of using the AUDIT-C in clinical settings [03:03]·      The reason for the ‘ceiling effect’ of the AUDIT-C [04:21]·      How the authors tested whether the AUDIT-C is useful in measuring treatment progress [05:15]·      The key findings of the study [06:06]·      What ‘collider bias’ is and how it could manifest in studies that use the AUDIT-C [06:59]·      What the findings mean for studies that have used AUDIT-C in the past [09:23]·      How the findings contribute to policy or practice [10:30]·      Whether the authors, as clinical psychologists, personally use the AUDIT-C [11:28]·      Birds eye view of psychiatric screening measures [12:40]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About Danilo Romero: Dr Romero, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the Stockholm Centre for Dependency Disorders in Sweden. He recently completed his doctorate at Karolinska Institutet, conducting a multimethod project to improve treatment engagement for substance use disorders after acute-care episodes. More broadly, his research covers digital psychiatry, mental health informatics, psychometrics, and novel psychological interventions for substance use disorders.The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Original article: Questionable generalizability of Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption scoring warrants caution when used for outcome monitoring: Evidence from simulated and real-world trial data - https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70074The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to: Dr Marilyn Piccirillo from the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Drs Katherine Walukevich-Dienst and Elizabeth Lehinger from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The interview covers their research report on the longer-term efficacy of brief, alcohol-focused personalised feedback interventions among young adults in two universities on the West coast of the US. Note for listeners: The acronym PFI is used throughout this episode, which stands for ‘personalised feedback intervention’.·      What is an alcohol-focused personalised feedback intervention? [01:48]·      An example of how one of these interventions would work in practice [03:03]·      The importance of considering distress [03:46]·      The key findings of the study [07:24]·      Why ‘less is more’ when it comes to alcohol interventions [12:19]·      How the findings contribute to policy or practice [14:46]·      The pioneers of personalised feedback interventions [17:41]About Marilyn Piccirillo: Dr Piccirillo is a licensed psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She is also a Core Faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and a member of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center. Dr Piccirillo uses person-centered frameworks to study motivating and maintenance factors for substance use problems, particularly for those experiencing co-occurring anxiety, trauma, and stress. She also examines how digital tools can be used to support treatment and recovery and optimise the design and delivery of treatments for substance use problems and addiction. About Katherine Walukevich-Dienst: Dr Walukevich-Dienst is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on developing and testing digital interventions to reduce substance use and improve mental health among young adults. She uses methods such as ecological momentary assessment to examine real-time behavior and intervention engagement. Dr Walukevich-Dienst has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and leads National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded projects aimed at improving outcomes for cannabis and alcohol use through scalable, evidence-based approaches. About Elizabeth Lehinger: Dr Lehinger is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She has two primary areas of research: 1) college student alcohol prevention, and 2) trauma recovery for individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders. Her research focuses on reward processes underlying these research areas. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Original article: Examining the longer-term efficacy of brief, alcohol-focused personalized feedback interventions for individuals with internalizing distress: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70044 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Emma Beard, a lecturer in statistics and quantitative methods at University College London. The interview covers Emma’s research report titled, ‘How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence?’·      How we normally estimate the smoking prevalence reported in official statistics [01:28]·      Why it is important to consider the hidden population [01:55]·      The consequences of not taking into account the hidden population when estimating smoking prevalence [02:35]·      The ‘workbook method’: how we estimate the hidden population [02:55]·      The key findings and implications of these findings [03:30]·      The size of the hidden population in the UK [04:42]·      The huge undertaking of this research project to find these data [05:25]·      The consideration of adolescent populations within smoking prevalence statistics [06:44]·      What can be done within research to be more inclusive of hidden populations [07:52]·      How Emma’s research can contribute to policy and practice [08:44]·      The argument for more and better data to include hidden populations [10:00]In Emma’s paper, the hidden population for household surveys was defined as people from or living in communal establishments (e.g. care homes, student residence, prison), immigration detention centres, Gypsy, Roma and Travelling Communities, short-term accommodation, and those experiencing homelessness, including sofa surfing. About Emma Beard: Dr Beard is a Lecturer in Statistics and Quantitative Methods at University College London. She has over 130 publications on a variety of topics, with a key focus on tobacco harm reduction, high-risk alcohol consumption, and statistical methodology. Her research focuses on evaluating smoking cessation interventions and policies. She is a Deputy Methodological and Statistical Editor for the journal Addiction.About Tsen Vei Lim: Dr Tsen Vei Lim is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK).Original editorial: How much does the absence of the ‘hidden population’ from United Kingdom household surveys underestimate smoking prevalence? https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70071 The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth speaks to Professor Joanne Neale from the Addictions Department at King’s College London and Professor Brian Kelly from the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. The interview covers their editorial titled, ‘Over a decade later and Addiction journal is still committed to publishing qualitative research’.  ·      The origins of the editorial and why it is needed [01:01]·      The goal of the changes Addiction is implementing for qualitative submissions [01:44]·      The importance of increasing the word limit to 6,000 words [02:49]·      Whether similar journals in the addiction field struggle with low numbers of qualitative submissions [04:19]·      The increase in qualitative editors at the Addiction journal since 2013 [05:52]·      Finding consensus among a diversity of disciplines on the editorial board [07:21]·      Semi-quantification over quantification in qualitative research [08:30]·      What the authors hope to achieve with this editorial [09:36]·      The take-home messages for qualitative researchers [11:04]About Professor Joanne Neale: Jo is Professor of Addictions Qualitative Research based within the National Addiction Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK. She is also Conjoint Professor in the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney, Australia. Joanne trained in social work and is the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Lead for the UK NIHR Addictions Policy Research Unit. Her current research focuses largely on patient perceptions of treatments and interventions for alcohol and other drug use. In the last three years, Joanne Neale has received, through her university, research funding from Mundipharma Research Ltd and Camurus AB and honoraria from Camurus AB and Indivior for presentations.About Professor Brian Kelly: Brian is a Professor of Sociology at Indiana University and also Senior Research Program Leader at the Irsay Institute. His research examines social contextual influences on health, mainly focusing on substance use. His current research projects include the influence of policy contexts on youth substance use trajectories, sibling socialisation processes of adolescent substance use, and the impact of disasters on community drug-related outcomes.Original editorial: Over a decade later and Addiction journal is still committed to publishing qualitative research https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70047 Qualitative guidelines for Addiction: (1) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12408 and (2) https://doi.org/10.1111/add.12857The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr James MacKillop, a clinical psychologist and professor at McMaster University in Canada, and director for both the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and the Michael G DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. The interview covers his research report on the diagnostic validity of drinking behaviour for identifying alcohol use disorder (AUD) with findings from a representative sample of community adults and an inpatient clinical sample. ·      What alcohol use disorder is and how it is currently diagnosed [01:41]·      The surprising exclusion of drinking behaviour in AUD diagnosis [03:03]·      Unpacking ‘receiver operating characteristic curves’ [04:42]·      The key findings of the study [05:45]·      Whether James’ findings will change how we think about diagnosing AUD [07:35]·      Why clinicians would benefit collecting how much people are drinking in one session [09:32]·      Whether an indicator of heavy drinking would be helpful in treatment settings [10:35]·      Bringing objective data into clinical application [12:09]·      Whether we can use a similar metric to other drugs, such as cannabis [13:09]·      What we can learn for policy and further research [15:56]·      The barrier of the lack of biomarkers in alcohol use disorder [18:00]·      The take-home message of the paper [19:40]About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the SSA, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling, experimental psychology, and neuroimaging to understand the neuropsychological basis of addictive behaviours. He holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the University of Cambridge (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK). About James MacKillop PhD, CPsych, FCAHS: Dr. MacKillop holds the Peter Boris Chair in Addictions Research and a Canada Research Chair in Translational Addiction Research at McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. There, Dr. MacKillop directs both the Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research and the DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Dr. MacKillop trained as a clinical psychologist at Binghamton University and Brown University and studies addiction using a multidisciplinary approach, integrating psychology, economics, neuroscience, and genetics. James receives unrestricted research funding from Canadian Institutes on Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and Correctional Services of Canada and am a senior scientist and principal in Beam Diagnostics, Inc., a technology transfer start-up company. The latter had no relationship to the publication in Addiction.Original article: Diagnostic validity of drinking behaviour for identifying alcohol use disorder: Findings from a representative sample of community adults and an inpatient clinical sample. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70037The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth speaks to Dr Sandra Jumbe from the School of Social and Health Sciences at Millenium University in Malawi and the Wolfson Institute of Public Health Queen Mary, and Dr Chris Newby from the Medical School at the University of Nottingham. Sandra and Chris discuss their findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis on factors associated with adolescent substance use in Africa between 2000 and 2020. ·      What do we already know about adolescent use in Africa and why this review was needed [01:40]·      The headline findings of the review [03:50]·      What the consolidation of findings in this topic area will achieve [05:58]·      The themes that came out of the ‘non-familial’ category of factors associated with adolescent substance use [09:00]·      The main themes that came out of the ‘socioeconomic or environmental’ category of factors associated with adolescent substance use [10:05]·      The regional differences in the drugs consumed across Africa [12:10]·      What drugs are captured in standardised surveys [14:29]·      The experience of doing systematic reviews and meta-analyses [15:20]About Sandra Jumbe: Dr Jumbe is a health psychologist currently working as a senior lecturer in research at Millennium University in Blantyre Malawi and a health researcher at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London. She is also an African Research Initiative for Scientific Excellence (ARISE) fellow with the African Academy of Sciences. She is an expert in behavioural science, enabling her to set the foundations for evidence-based work that informs development of effective interventions and policy decisions to improve human health. She has worked in both clinical and academic settings in primary care and mental health. Dr Jumbe’s long term aspiration is to expand understanding of global mental health and substance use, by advancing research niched on youth mental health in Africa, while training fellow young African scientists. She is also a mental health advocate, passionate about improving mental health literacy at grassroots level using community engagement and culturally sensitive approaches.About Chris Newby: Dr Newby is a senior medical statistician at the Research Knowledge Exchange, at the Medical School at the University of Nottingham. He has worked in NIHR Biomedical Research Units, Clinical Trial Units and is currently a senior quantitative advisor at the Research Support Service Leicester Hub and Partners. His interests are Respiratory, Mental Health and Equality Diversity and Inclusion in Health Research.    Sandra, Chris nor Elle have any conflicts of interest to declare.Original article: A systematic review and meta-analysis of factors associated with adolescent substance use in Africa, 2000 to 2020: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70023The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Richard Bade from Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Queensland about his and his co-authors research report on the identification of nitazenes through wastewater analysis, using two-years of data from 22 countries. Richard discusses why a study detecting nitazenes in wastewater was needed and what the future for detecting nitazenes in wastewater looks like, including implications for policy and practice. ·      What is wastewater analysis and how we use it in the field of drugs [01:21]·      What are nitazenes and why they are a problem [02:28]·      Why a study detecting nitazenes in wastewater was needed [03:31]·      Whether there is a demand for nitazenes [04:08]·      How Richard and his team chose the eight nitazenes to study [05:05]·      The headline findings of the paper [05:55]·      Whether a lack of nitazenes in wastewater means that they aren’t there or they are in too low concentration to be found [08:16]·      The benefits of wastewater analysis to detect nitazenes [09:37]·      The surprisingly high level of nitazenes in Australia [10:37]·      What we can learn for policy and practice [11:47]·      The joy and difficulties working with many co-authors! [14:11]About Elle Wadsworth: Elle is an academic fellow with the Society for the Study of Addiction. She is based at the University of Bath with the Addiction and Mental Health Group and her research interests include drug policy, cannabis legalisation, and public health. Elle is also a senior analyst at RAND Europe, working on projects focusing on national and international drug policies. About Richard Bade: Dr Richard Bade is a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) within The University of Queensland. He completed his PhD at the University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain in 2016 before moving to the University of South Australia in 2017 and QAEHS in 2021. He is interested in understanding links between environmental and community health using wastewater analysis. His particular research interests are associated with the surveillance, detection and identification of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in wastewater and other matrices as well as exploring the impact of chemical and pathogen exposure during mass gatherings. Dr Bade currently leads an expanding international consortium exploring the prevalence of NPS worldwide. These data can help provide insights into the emergence of new, potent NPS, and ensure that public harm from their exposure is minimized. Original article: Early identification of the use of potent benzylbenzimidazoles (nitazenes) through wastewater analysis: two-years of data from 22 countries. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70027The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal.The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to three generations of tobacco/nicotine researchers: Dr Sarah Jackson and Emeritus Professors Martin Jarvis and Robert West, all from the Department of Behavioural Science and Health at University College London. They discuss a recent editorial, ‘The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life?’ – why the message resonated, what was and is difficult to convey in tobacco research, and how the media coverage has changed for tobacco research over the years. ·      What the editorial is about [00:56]·      Why the editorial resonated with the public and the media [01:40]·      What messages were difficult to convey to the public [03:05]·      Why the number of ‘20 minutes of life’ has increased since the last estimate and why it is longer for women [07:43]·      Choosing persuasive pieces and soundbites to communicate to the public [12:13]·      The misinterpretation of research in the media and the difficulty in delivering nuance [14:08]·      How the media coverage on tobacco and smoking has changed over the years [16:23]Dr Sarah Jackson is a Principal Research Fellow within UCL’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group. She has authored >100 peer-reviewed articles on nicotine and tobacco. Her research activity focuses primarily on modelling population trends in smoking, evaluating smoking cessation interventions and policies, and advancing the evidence base on vaping. She is President of SRNT Europe, Senior Editor for Addiction, and Social Media Editor for Nicotine & Tobacco Research. Martin Jarvis is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, UCL, having for many years worked with Michael Russell’s smoking research group at the Institute of Psychiatry and then Cancer Research UK’s Health Behaviour Unit. He has researched and published widely on tobacco smoking, with special interests in the role of nicotine, social and family influences on smoking, smoking cessation methods and passive smoking. He was awarded an OBE in 2002.Robert West is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at UCL. He specialises in behaviour change and addiction. He is former Editor-in-Chief of Addiction, and has acted as an advisor to the English Department of Health on tobacco control and currently advises the Public Health Wales Behavioural Science Unit. He helped write the blueprint for the UK’s national network of stop-smoking clinics and is co-founder of the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation, Behaviour (COM-B) model of behaviour, the Behaviour Change Wheel framework for intervention development, and the PRIME Theory of motivation. Original article: The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life? https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16757 Authors praised the seminal work of the late Professor Michael Anthony Hamilton Russell (1932–2009). For further reading on the legacy of his landmark research, see here: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14043The opinions expressed in this podcast reflect the views of the host and interviewees and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA or Addiction journal. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.