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 2020

Dropout rates of in‐person psychosocial substance use disorder treatments: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

About 30% of participants drop out of in‐person psychosocial substance use disorder treatment studies. Rates vary with the treated population, the substance being targeted, and the characteristics of the treatment.

Link to Abstract

The decline in youth drinking in England—is everyone drinking less? A quantile regression analysis

Alcohol consumption among young people in England appears to be declining across the consumption distribution, and peaks among heavy drinkers.

Link to Abstract

Contextual characteristics of adults’ drinking occasions and their association with levels of alcohol consumption and acute alcohol‐related harm: a mapping review

Studies from 1975 to 2019 using event‐level methods to estimate associations between contextual characteristics of drinking occasions, consumption levels and acute harms focused mainly on students and consumption outcomes, and most considered a limited range of contextual characteristics.

Link to Abstract

Comparison of psychiatric comorbidity in treatment‐seeking, opioid‐dependent patients with versus without chronic pain

People in opioid treatment services in Scotland who report chronic pain may have a higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity than those who do not.

Link to Abstract

Opioid use and dropout from extended‐release naltrexone in a controlled trial: implications for mechanism

Extended‐release injection naltrexone was effective at reducing the risk of dropout from opioid use disorder treatment after an episode of opioid use.

Link to Abstract

The Psychoactive Surveillance Consortium and Analysis Network (PSCAN): the first year

During its first year (2016-17), PSCAN captured clinical data on new classes of drugs paired with biological samples. Synthetic cannabinoids were the most common new psychoactive drug. Synthetic opioids were associated with a high rate of intubation and respiratory acidosis.

Link to Abstract

Recent trends in heroin and pharmaceutical opioid‐related harms in Victoria, Australia up to 2018

In Victoria, Australia, there appears to have been a trend starting mid‐2014 of increasing heroin‐related harm and a flattening of the increase or a decrease of harms relating to pharmaceutical opioids.

Link to Abstract

Life‐course trajectories of cannabis use: a latent class analysis of a New Zealand birth cohort

In New Zealand, long‐term frequent cannabis use, or transition to such use, appears to be associated with diverse harms in adulthood.

Link to Abstract

Maternal and infant characteristics associated with maternal opioid overdose in the year following delivery

Risk factors associated with postpartum opioid overdose include a history of overdose during pregnancy, a diagnosis of opioid use disorder, neonatal opioid withdrawal, and greater than average use of emergency care in year before the birth.

Link to Abstract

Population‐level predictors of changes in success rates of smoking quit attempts in England: a time series analysis

In England between 2007 and 2018, licensing of nicotine replacement therapy for use in harm reduction, greater use of e‐cigarettes and prescription medications during a quit attempt and higher expenditure on tobacco control mass media were all associated with higher success rates of quit attempts.

Link to Abstract

Assessment of the Choice Behavior Under Cued Conditions (CBUCC) paradigm as a measure of motivation to smoke under laboratory conditions

In the Choice Behavior under Cued Conditions (CBUCC) task, which assesses motivation to smoke under laboratory conditions, smoking abstinence appears to generate greater cue-specific spending.

Link to Abstract

Association of parental substance use disorder with offspring cognition: a population family‐based study

There appear to be shared genetic factors between parental substance use disorder (SUD) and offspring cognitive function, suggesting that cognitive deficits may constitute a genetically transmitted risk factor in SUD.

Link to Abstract

Sibling comparisons elucidate the associations between educational attainment polygenic scores and alcohol, nicotine and cannabis

Individuals who carry more alleles associated with educational attainment tend to meet fewer clinical criteria for alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use disorders.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.14815

Link to Abstract

Increases in methamphetamine use among heroin treatment admissions in the United States, 2008–17

Methamphetamine use among heroin treatment admissions in the United States increased from one in 50 primary heroin treatment admissions in 2008 to one in 8 admissions in 2017.

Link to Abstract

Factor structure, internal reliability and construct validity of the methadone maintenance treatment stigma mechanisms scale (MMT‐SMS)

The Methadone Maintenance Treatment Stigma Mechanisms Scale appears to be a reliable measure of methadone maintenance treatment stigma with robust validity.

Link to Abstract

Measuring fidelity to behavioural support delivery for smoking cessation and its association with outcomes

The fidelity index is a reliable measure for quantifying intervention fidelity of delivering smoking cessation behavioural support.

Link to Abstract