Addiction Audio

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Eve Taylor, a research fellow at University College London, UK. The interview covers Eve’s research article looking at smoking and drinking among the Gypsy and Traveller communities in England.The Gypsy and Traveller community in the UK [01:24]The importance of studying this community with regards to smoking and drinking [02:28]The underrepresentation of the Gypsy and Traveller communities in national data [03:27] The Smoking Toolkit study [03:59]How the Smoking Toolkit study addresses limitations found in previous studies [04:55]The key findings from the study: smoking [05:44]The key findings from the study: dr...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Jonas Dora, an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, US. The interview covers Jonas’ article examining how people decide to consume alcohol when feeling stressed.Why Jonas wanted to study the “tension reduction hypothesis” [01:18]The gaps in literature that led to the study [01:58]The importance of understanding the nuance of the “tension reduction hypothesis” [03:50]How Jonas approached the research question [04:40]Speculation of the factors that influence the continuation of drinking alcohol [08:16]The participants of the study [10:35]Whether those with an alcohol use disorder would behave differently in the exp...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Caitlin McClure-Thomas, a PhD Candidate at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, the University of Queensland, Australia. The interview covers Caitlin’s systematic review and meta-analysis of self-reported exposure to cannabis advertising and its association with cannabis use and intentions.The different forms of cannabis advertisements available [1:33]Legal framework surrounding cannabis advertisements [03:10]The hidden risks and harms of advertising cannabis [04:57]The importance of studying the relationship between cannabis advertisements and cannabis use [05:57]The key findings of the study [07:17]Whether the relationship differs between different forms of advertisements [09:30]Ad...

In this episode, Dr Chloe Burke talks to Dr Monserrat Conde, a researcher at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Sciences, University of Oxford, UK. The interview covers a short report on the results of a consultation exercise creating recommendations for future research exploring e-cigarette use and later cigarette smoking in young people.The background of work on e-cigarettes that led to this current study [1:06]The evidence and gap map [03:14]Monserrat’s iterative approach to set up the consultation exercise [04:49]A surprising aspect from the stakeholder engagement [06:41]The lessons learned from integrating existing research with stakeholder engagement [09:03]Discussing tw...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Professor Jonathan Brett, a senior consultant at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, clinical director of the Psychiatry and Non-Prescription Drug and Alcohol Unit, and a clinical toxicologist with the New South Wales Poison’s Information Centre, Australia. The interview covers Jonathan’s research article looking at psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for methamphetamine use disorder: A pilot open-label safety and feasibility studyPsilocybin and what psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy looks like [01:20]Why look at methamphetamine use disorder? [04:38]Why is psilocybin promising for methamphetamine use disorder? [06:21]Explaining the single-arm open label pilot trial [09:35]The key findings of the...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Lucy Loch, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, US. The interview covers Lucy’s research article on ultra-processed food addiction in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the US.What are ultra-processed foods? [01:18]Ultra-processed food addiction and its relation to other behavioural addictions [02:12]The addictive features of ultra-processed food [03:01]The relationship between ultra-processed foods and obesity [03:50]The motivation for the study [04:37]The key findings of the study [05:24]Socioeconomic inequality as a potential predictor for ultra-processed food addiction [06:49]Should we avoid ul...

In this episode, Annika Theodoulou speaks to Professor Jonathan Bricker, a Professor of Public Health at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, US. The interview covers Jonathan’s research article covering intersectionality in cigarette smoking cessation using a latent class analysis to predict 12-month cessation in a randomized controlled trial.Intersectionality and why it is important to explore in smoking cessation [01:19]Six factors that are well-known predictors of smoking [03:20]The aim of a latent class analysis [04:55]The key findings of the study [07:09]The differences found be...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Rachel Lees Thorne, a postdoctoral research associate and Professor Tom Freeman, a professor of psychology, both from the Addiction and Mental Health Group at the University of Bath, UK. The interview covers Rachel and Tom’s research article estimating thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder using standard delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) unitsWhat are standard THC units [01:25]The importance of using THC units to estimate thresholds for risk of cannabis use disorder [02:59]How people who use cannabis can use standard THC units [03:46] The CannTeen study [04:51]Why the authors focused on...

In this episode, Dr Zoe Swithenbank speaks to Dr Olufemi Erinoso, a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr Jennifer Pearson, an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno. The interview covers Olufemi and Jennifer’s research article covering the use of cessation products, e-cigarettes, and cigarette cessation outcomes among adults with substance use problems, using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study from 2013-2021.An overview of the study [01:35]The key findings of the study [02:44]The unexpected findings [05:57]Considerations of the tobacco and e-cigarette policy context th...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Professor Amandine Luquiens, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at the University of Montpellier and the Addiction Department of Nîmes University Hospital, France. The interview covers Amandine’s research article on psilocybin in alcohol use disorder and comorbid depressive symptoms: Results from a feasibility randomized clinical trial.Psilocybin and its recent popularity in clinical trials [01:22]The concerns of using psilocybin to treat psychiatric disorders [03:05]The use of psychotherapy alongside psilocybin in treatment [05:16]The key findings from the study [07:01]The contribution of the findings to policy and practice [10:13]The public’s cur...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Elisa Wegmann and Annica Kessling, a post-doctoral research fellow and a PhD student at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. The interview covers Annica and Elisa’s research article on the effects of acute psychosocial stress on cue-reactivity, attentional bias and implicit associations in women with problematic social network use: An experimental studyWhat is problematic social network use? [01:36]The controversy of social network use as an addiction [02:50]What we already know about cognition in people with problematic social network use [03:37]What Annica and Elisa mean by implicit cognition in...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Justin Mahlberg, a Research Fellow at Monash University, Australia. The interview covers Justin’s research article on social cognition and decision-making in people with methamphetamine use disorder.Why studying cognition in methamphetamine use disorder is important [01:26]Antisocial behaviour among those with methamphetamine use disorder [02:24]How Justin investigated social cognition within the study [02:55]Basic social cognition processes that Justin looked at in this study [04:29]The key findings from the study [05:41] How Justin examined pro-social decision making through computer games [09:31]How Justin examined anti-social decision making through simulations [12:09]How the fi...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Emmert Roberts, Senior Clinical Lecturer at the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London and a Consultant Addiction Psychiatrist at the South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The interview covers Emmert’s short report examining the characteristics of drug-related deaths among individuals identified as LGBTQ+ in the United Kingdom, 1997–2024.LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer and others. The importance of examining drug-related deaths among those in the LGBTQ+ community [01:31]The use of the National Program on Substance Use Mortality database [04:00]The main findings of the...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Myfanwy Graham, a Postgraduate Scholar at Monash University funded by the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council. The interview covers Myfanwy’s data insight paper examining differences in the measurement of medical cannabis use. Why definitions and contexts matter with regards to medical cannabis use [01:05]Four measures of medical cannabis use that Myfanwy explored in the study [02:05]The medical cannabis policy contexts of the US, Australia, and Canada [03:30]The importance of using standardised questions across different countries [05:18]The main findings of the data insight [05:48]Interpretations of medical can...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Tim Mackey and Dr Doug Roehler. Tim is a professor in the Global Health Program at UC San Diego and the CEO and co-founder of S-3 Research, and Doug is the Cannabis Research Unit lead in the Department of Policy and Research for California’s Department of Cannabis Control. The interview covers Tim and Doug’s research article exploring the health benefit claims of cannabis products on online marketplaces in the United States. Why exploring health benefit claims on cannabis products was an important topic to investigate [01:20]What are cann...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim speaks to Dr Joshua Garfield, a research fellow at Monash University and Turning Point, Australia. The interview covers Joshua’s research article on the efficacy of a personalised alcohol ‘approach bias modification’ smartphone app in people accessing outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorders.What is ‘approach bias modification’ [01:51]The smartphone app and how it works [04:30]The recruitment process of the randomised controlled trial [07:20]The key findings of the study [09:20]How did the participants of the study feel about using the app? [10:37]The implications of the study for practice [12:33]The next steps for this a...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Phong Thai, an Associate Professor at Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, Australia. The interview covers Phong’s research article on a wastewater study measuring illegal drug use in Hanoi, Vietnam, to determine the feasibility of conducting wastewater analysis in a low-income country.Note: The acronym ‘UNODC’ used in this episode stands for the ‘United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’. Why looking at illegal drug use in Vietnam is important [01:07]Wastewater analysis and its utility in a low-income country [02:00]The biomarkers of focus [03:55]Why the aut...

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Zachary Bryant, a PhD candidate at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Australia. The interview covers Zachary’s research report on the relationship between MDMA (or ecstasy) use in youth adulthood and anxiety or depressive disorders in later adult life.  The effects of MDMA [1:20]The prevalence of MDMA use and reasons why people take it [02:00]The relevance of MDMA for depression and anxiety [03:05]The use of the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study to answer Zachary’s research question [04:17]The key findings of th...

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Albert Burgess-Hull, the Scientific Director of SUDx and Head Data Scientist at MATClinics, US. The interview covers a short report examining treatment retention in opioid use disorder comparing subcutaneous injectable versus sublingual buprenorphine. ·      What is buprenorphine and what it is used for? [01:00]·      The benefits and drawbacks of sublingual versus subcutaneous injectable buprenorphine [01:38]·      An overview of the study [04:41]·      Statistically matching sublingual buprenorphine patients with subcutaneous injectable buprenorphine patients [06:05]·      The main findings of the study [08:34]·      The contrast of Albert’s findings with findings in previous literature...

In this episode, Dr Chloe Burke talks to Dr Monika Halicka, a Senior Research Associate at the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK. The interview covers a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder. ·      An overview of Monika’s paper [1:00]·      The different types of psychosocial interventions found in the review [02:55]·      What ‘inactive controls’ and ‘non-specific controls’ are with regards to psychosocial interventions [04:30]·      Deciding on the outcomes of focus for the study [06:00]·      The results of the meta-analysis in which psychosocial interventions had clinically meaningful improv...