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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January 2020

A systematic review of research on adolescent solitary alcohol and marijuana use in the United States

Approximately 1 in 7 adolescents in the US appears to have engaged in solitary alcohol and marijuana use.

Link to Abstract

Impact of the introduction and withdrawal of financial incentives on the delivery of alcohol screening and brief advice in English primary health care: an interrupted time-series analysis

Removing a financial incentive for UK general practitioners for alcohol prevention was associated with an immediate and sustained reduction in the rate of screening for alcohol use and brief advice provision.

Link to Abstract

Impact of specialist and primary care stop smoking support on socio‐economic inequalities in cessation in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and national equity initial review completed 22 January 2019; final version accepted 19 July 2019 analysis

Equity‐orientated stop smoking support can compensate for lower quit rates among socio-economically disadvantaged smokers.

Link to Abstract

Does child maltreatment predict alcohol use disorders in young adulthood? A cohort study of linked notifications and survey data

Prospectively identified experience of childhood emotional abuse and neglect appears to be positively associated with problem alcohol use at age 21.

Link to Abstract

Initiating buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder during short‐term in‐patient ‘detoxification’: a randomized clinical trial

Starting patients with opioid use disorder on office‐based buprenorphine treatment post‐discharge reduced illicit opioid use and increased days in treatment compared with in‐patient detox.

Link to Abstract

Evaluation of adding the community reinforcement approach to motivational enhancement therapy for adults aged 60 years and older with DSM‐5 alcohol use disorder: a randomized controlled trial

Adding the ‘community reinforcement approach for seniors’ intervention to brief outpatient motivational enhancement therapy treatment for alcohol use disorder in older adults did not improve drinking outcomes.

Link to Abstract

Coercion into addiction treatment and subsequent substance use patterns among people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada

Among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada, there is no clear evidence of improvements in substance use outcomes among those reporting coerced addiction treatment, those voluntarily accessing treatment, and those not attending treatment.

Link to Abstract

Identification and characterization of latent classes based on drug use among men who have sex with men at risk of sexually transmitted infections in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

There are five classes of drug use in a sexual context among men who have sex with men in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Classes with higher levels of drug use coincide with higher levels of sexual risk behaviour and sexually transmitted infections.

Link to Abstract

Spatio‐temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring

The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real‐time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.

Link to Abstract

Impact of early nausea on varenicline adherence and smoking cessation

Early nausea during varenicline treatment may be indirectly associated with lower likelihood of smoking cessation through reducing varenicline adherence.

Link to Abstract

Therapist and computer‐based brief interventions for drug use within a randomized controlled trial: effects on parallel trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms

Therapist‐delivered brief interventions to address drug use, alcohol consumption (when relevant) and HIV risk behaviors may also reduce alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety.

Link to Abstract

The changing patterns and correlates of population‐level polysubstance use in Australian youth: a multi‐group latent class analysis of nationally representative samples spanning 12 years

Between 2004 and 2016, four in 10 young Australians used some psychoactive substances and one in 10 used an extensive range of substances.

Link to Abstract

Association between snus use over time and smoking cessation in Norwegian smokers

In Norway, snus use appears to be associated with a higher likelihood of quitting smoking within the first 5 years of initiation of this use.

Link to Abstract

Psychostimulant use disorder and the heart

Treatment protocols used for cocaine‐associated cardiovascular pathology are largely assumed to apply to amphetamines and other phenylethylamines, but there appears to be little research in this area.

Link to Abstract