Key Findings

This is a quick summary of the main discovery for each research paper we have published, organized issue by issue. Each key finding is below the article title, with a link to the abstract. 


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February 2023

#TurntTrending: a systematic review of substance use portrayals on social media platforms

Social media content promoting engagement with substance use or depicting use appears to be widely available

Link to Abstract

The relationship between age at first drink and later risk behaviours during a period of youth drinking decline

The decline in youth drinking may have contributed to a concentration of risk of alcohol problems among young people who drink in early adolescence

Link to Abstract

A systematic review of qualitative research on substance use among refugees

Refugees are at high risk for substance use and substance use disorders

Link to Abstract

All alcohol exposure counts - testing parental, older sibling, best friend and peer exposure on young adolescent drinking in a seven-wave longitudinal study

After adjustment for the effect of role models, adolescents exposed to more sibling drinking appear more likely to have drunk alcohol in the past 6 months and past 4 weeks, and also to binge drink

Link to Abstract

Effectiveness of text message interventions with different behavior change techniques on alcohol consumption among young adults: a five-arm randomized controlled trial

Text message interventions giving feedback on drinking plans, consumption and/or drinking limit goals produce small reductions in binge drinking days in non-treatment seeking youths with hazardous drinking

Link to Abstract

The who and how of attentional bias in cannabis users: associations with use severity, craving and interference control

Attentional bias may only be present in cannabis users with the most severe problems

Link to Abstract

Opium tincture versus methadone for opioid agonist treatment: a randomized controlled trial

Opium tincture retained 60% of OAT participants to end of 85-day follow up, compared with 69% for methadone

Link to Abstract

Subgroups of internet gaming disorder based on addiction-related resting-state functional connectivity

There appear to be 2 subgroups of people with internet gaming disorder, with differing patterns of brain FC, clinical symptom profiles, and gender compositions

Link to Abstract

Association of cannabis use during pregnancy with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection: a retrospective cohort study

Current cannabis use may be associated with reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among pregnant women

Link to Abstract

Cutting down, quitting and motivation to stop smoking by self-reported COVID-19 status: Representative cross-sectional surveys in England

In England there appears to be no association between quitting/reducing smoking and self-reported COVID-19 infection

Link to Abstract

Associations between nicotine vaping uptake and cigarette smoking cessation vary by smokers' plans to quit: longitudinal findings from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Surveys

Vaping uptake appears strongly associated with smoking cessation among smokers with no initial plans to quit smoking

Link to Abstract

Longitudinal trajectories of marijuana use in tobacco products among young adult Texas college students from 2015 to 2019

E-cigarettes appears to provide a novel way for marijuana delivery among young adults in Texas, USA.

Link to Abstract

Rates, characteristics and toxicology of cocaine-related deaths in Australia, 2000–2021

There was a large increase in cocaine-related deaths across Australia from 2000 to 2021

Link to Abstract

Rapid growth in disposable e-cigarette vaping among young adults in Great Britain from 2021 to 2022: a repeat cross-sectional survey

Use of disposable e-cigarettes in Great Britain grew rapidly between 2021 and 2022.

Link to Abstract

Trends in cigarette use and health insurance coverage among US adults with mental health and substance use disorders

Changes in smoking outcomes over time among US adults may be associated with changes in health insurance coverage

Link to Abstract