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.
Search key findings View Previous Lists
April 2018
Efficacy of a web-based intervention with and without guidance for employees with risky drinking: results of a three-arm randomized controlled trial
A web-based alcohol intervention, administered with or without guidance, significantly reduced drinking and improved mental health and work-related outcomes in the German working population.
Alcohol-related harm in emergency departments: a prospective, multi-centre study
Almost one in 10 presentations to emergency departments in Australia and New Zealand are alcohol related.
Predictors of smoking cessation during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis
A wide range of socio-demographic, relationship, social, smoking-related, pregnancy-related, health and psychological factors have been found to predict smoking cessation in pregnancy.
Associations between methadone maintenance treatment and crime: a 17-year longitudinal cohort study of Canadian provincial offenders
Canadians with prior convictions and opioid dependence appear to commit fewer crimes when they are receiving methadone treatment compared with no methadone treatment.
Communities mobilizing for change on alcohol (CMCA): secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial showing effects of community organizing on alcohol acquisition by youth in the Cherokee nation
A community organizing intervention, Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA), is effective in reducing availability of alcohol to underage youth in the US.
Relationship between high-risk patients receiving prescription opioids and high-volume opioid prescribers
Health care providers in the US who typically do not prescribe large volumes of opioids frequently prescribe opioids to patients at high risk of opioid misuse.
Impulsivity predicts poorer improvement in quality of life during early treatment for people with methamphetamine dependence
Among Australian methamphetamine-dependent people, elevated impulsivity (acting without sufficient deliberation) predicts lower improvement of social and psychological quality of life in the first 6–9 weeks of treatment.
The prevalence, incidence, and gender and age-specific incidence of problem gambling: results of the Swedish longitudinal gambling study (Swelogs)
The incidence of problem gambling relapse in Sweden is likely to be higher than estimated and in future is likely to include higher proportions of women and older adults.
Self-reported marijuana use over 25 years and abdominal adiposity: the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study
Neither cumulative nor current marijuana use is associated with liver attenuation or total abdominal, visceral, subcutaneous, or intermuscular fat in mid-life.
Cigarette use is increasing among people with illicit substance use disorders in the United States, 2002–14: emerging disparities in vulnerable populations
While cigarette smoking has declined in the U.S. for the past several decades, it has increased since 2002 among people with substance use disorders.
Cost-effectiveness of personal tailored risk information and taster sessions to increase the uptake of the NHS stop smoking services: the Start2quit randomized controlled trial
To increase attendance at NHS Stop Smoking Services, a tailored letter and taster session in the services is likely to be more cost-effective than a generic letter in the long term.
The genetic and environmental architecture of substance use development from early adolescence into young adulthood: a longitudinal twin study of comorbidity of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use
Among Norwegian adolescents, there appear to be strong genetic effects on both substance-specific and comorbid use of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco; individual differences in alcohol use can be explained partially by family background.
Patterns of substance use and mortality risk in a cohort of ‘hard-to-reach’ polysubstance users
In a Norwegian prospective cohort study, ‘hard-to-reach’ polysubstance users had a more than 10 times higher mortality risk than the general population.
Sexual identity differences in high-intensity binge drinking: findings from a US national sample
In the US, sexual minority women are more likely, and sexual minority men are equally likely, to drink at standard and high-intensity binge drinking levels as their heterosexual counterparts.
Assessing causal relationships using genetic proxies for exposures: an introduction to Mendelian randomization
As genetic variants associated with addictive behaviours are identified, the potential for Mendelian randomization analyses will grow.