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In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Rose Laing, a PhD candidate at the Monash Addiction Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia. The interview covers Rose’s article on psychosocial health and hazardous alcohol use among 50- to 70-year-olds in south-east Melbourne, Australia.Psychosocial health and the motivation to look at the relationship between psychosocial health and alcohol use [01:00]Why 50–70-year-olds are an important population for studying this topic [03:03]The methods used in the study [03:43]What is Latent Profile Analysis [04:50]The four profiles found in the Latent Profile Analysis [06:24]Socialising and drinking alcohol at the time of retirement [07:42]The key findings in terms of alcohol use outcomes [08:12]Rose’s interpretation of the ‘socially connected poor mental health’ group having the greatest probability of hazardous use [09:15]What we can do with Rose’s findings [10:56]The take home messages [12:40]The next steps for the Beyond 50 study [14:02]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 holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK. About Rose Laing: Rose is a researcher and PhD candidate at the Monash Addiction Research Centre at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Her work focuses on the intersection of population health, ageing and substance use. Her PhD program of work centres on the Beyond 50 cohort study, which is investigating how physical and mental health, social wellbeing, and substance use in adults aged 50 to 70 years can impact individuals’ ability to age healthily. Rose's thesis is investigating the relationship between social isolation, loneliness and alcohol use within this cohort.Declarations of interest: None Original article: Psychosocial health and hazardous alcohol use among 50- to 70-year-olds: A cross-sectional latent profile analysis in south-east Melbourne, Australia https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70603The 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 Janaka Kosgolla and Professor Doug Smith. Janaka is an assistant research scientist and Doug is a professor, both from the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States. The interview covers Janaka and Doug’s research article on joint associations of recovery capital and polygenic risk with electronic health record observed remission and relapse in drug use disorder.What is recovery capital? [01:36]Examples of recovery capital [02:32]What are polygenic risk scores? [03:30]What motivated Janaka and Doug to explore the relationship between recovery capital and polygenic risk scores [07:32]How Janaka and Doug addressed their research question [08:50]The key findings from the study [10:24]Do recovery capital and polygenic risk scores interact with each other? [11:59]Do people with greater genetic risk require more recovery capital? [14:17]Whether we have data on what type of treatment the participants received [15:20]The exploration of mental health within the relationship [16:38]The findings in the context of treatment and policy [18:03]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 and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath in the UK. About Janaka Kosgolla: Janaka is an assistant research scientist at the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on adolescent substance use behaviour and recovery, as well as recovery from substance use disorders among adults. He examines how recovery capital, genetic susceptibility, and community resources relate to remission and recovery. He also works on several Medicaid projects, providing SQL programming support.About Doug Smith: Doug has served on the faculty of the School of Social Work since 2008. His research focuses on substance use disorder (SUD) treatment outcomes, especially among adolescents and emerging adults. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), private donations, and internal sources have funded his work. He currently directs the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD) inside the School of Social Work. CPRD has an annual budget of $3.5 million dollars and employs approximately 30 staff members. His recent work focuses on adolescents in recovery. His books include Emerging Adults in Substance Use Disorder Treatment (Oxford) and Motivational Interviewing with Families (Guilford).Tsen Vei, Janaka and Doug have no conflicts of interest to declare.Original article: Joint associations of recovery capital and polygenic risk with electronic health record observed remission and relapse in substance use disorder: Longitudinal evidence from the All of Us research program https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70582The 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.Music provided by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Annika Theodoulou speaks to Dr Yang-Chieh Brian Chen, a psychiatric resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, US. The interview covers Brian’s research article on all-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder using evidence from a nation-wide matched and sibling cohort study in Taiwan.A background on gambling disorder [01:09]All-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder [02:59]Why Brian focused on the relationship between gambling disorder and quality of life and suicidal ideation [04:11]The value of looking at accidental death and natural causes [06:00]The difference between results in European populations compared to the Taiwanese population [07:38]The study design that Brian used for the study [08:58]The importance of controlling for demographic and clinical factors [11:21]A summary of the mortality risk associated with gambling disorder [12:26]How we can generalize the findings [13:24]Brian’s take home messages [15:01]The implications of the findings for clinicians [17:14]A singular message on gambling disorder for the listeners [17:47]About Annika Theodoulou: Annika is a Research Fellow at the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, South Australia. Her work focuses on health behaviours, including smoking cessation and weight management, with an emphasis on evidence synthesis. She completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Primary Health Care at the University of Oxford, where her research examined socioeconomic inequalities in smoking cessation behaviours and outcomes using quantitative and qualitative methods. Her doctoral research was funded by the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA) and The Rotary Foundation. Annika is an Associate Editor of Nicotine & Tobacco Research and holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Master of Clinical Science from the University of Adelaide.About Yang-Chieh Brian Chen: Brian is currently a psychiatry resident in the psychiatry residency program at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He graduated from China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, and completed two years of postgraduate training at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. He has worked with his research mentor, psychiatrist Dr. Chih-Wei Hsu, on several projects focused on database research. He is devoted to research in psychiatry with the goal of making advancements toward improved treatment options in mental health. His current research interests include interventional psychiatry and neurocircuitry. Original article: All-cause and cause-specific mortality in gambling disorder: Evidence from a nation-wide matched and sibling cohort study in Taiwan https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70397The 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.Music by Jack Shakespeare.

In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Abi Stevely, a Research Fellow at the Sheffield Addictions Research Group in the UK. The interview covers Abi’s article on the price of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks compared to regular-strength drinks using sales data in Great Britain.The term ‘No/lo’ refers to alcohol free (No) and low alcohol (Lo) drinks. What are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks? [01:00]The use of ‘no/lo’ to refer to alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks [01:38]The main consumers of alcohol-free and low alcohol products in the UK [02:02]The motivation to explore the costs of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks [02:55]How alcohol-free and low alcohol products are situated in the addiction space [04:40]The methods of the study [06:44]Are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks more expensive than regular strength drinks across the whole off-trade market? [09:38]Are alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks more expensive than regular strength drinks across comparable products? [10:45]Are price differences associated with pack size and container type and size? [11:52]How Abi would expect the conclusions to change if on-trade sales were included [13:05]Perceptions of the price of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks in pubs and bars [15:47]The comparison of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks to soft drinks rather than an alternative to alcohol [17:11]The implications of Abi’s findings for alcohol price policy in the UK [18:00]The take home messages [19:11]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 holds a voluntary role at The Loop, a non-profit service provider of drug checking in the UK. About Abi Stevely: Abi is a Research Fellow in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, where they have worked since 2020. Much of their work to date has focused on evaluating major policy interventions including minimum unit pricing in Scotland. They have also worked on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on drinking behaviour. Abi is currently working on projects evaluating the public health impact of the UK alcohol duty reforms in 2024, the uprating of minimum unit pricing in Scotland to £0.65, and the growing alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks market.Declarations of interest: None Original article: Are alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks more expensive than regular-strength drinks? A descriptive analysis of sales data from Great Britain, 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70568The 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.