In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Eve Taylor, a research fellow at University College London, UK. The interview covers Eve’s research article looking at smoking and drinking among the Gypsy and Traveller communities in England.

• The Gypsy and Traveller community in the UK [01:24]
• The importance of studying this community with regards to smoking and drinking [02:28]
• The underrepresentation of the Gypsy and Traveller communities in national data [03:27]
• The Smoking Toolkit study [03:59]
• How the Smoking Toolkit study addresses limitations found in previous studies [04:55]
• The key findings from the study: smoking [05:44]
• The key findings from the study: drinking [06:17]
• The key findings from the study: smoking and drinking interaction [07:23]
• Whether the findings were expected [08:00]
• The implications of the findings [09:38]
• Examples of good practice within the community [12:40]
• The stark difference in the smoking rates between ethnicities in England [14:00]
• The take home messages from the study [14:39]

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.

About Eve Taylor: Eve is a Research Fellow at University College London, specialising in tobacco and nicotine research. Her research uses methods ranging from biomarker collection to population-level survey analysis with the aim of supporting harm reduction and reducing health inequalities associated with tobacco and nicotine use. Eve’s current work focuses on barriers and facilitators to cessation support among people who use non-cigarette tobacco, with a focus on inequality among minority ethnic communities. Eve has no conflicts of interest to declare.

Original article: Smoking and drinking among the Gypsy and Traveller communities: A population study in England https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70330

The 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Jonas Dora, an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, US. The interview covers Jonas’ article examining how people decide to consume alcohol when feeling stressed.

• Why Jonas wanted to study the “tension reduction hypothesis” [01:18]
• The gaps in literature that led to the study [01:58]
• The importance of understanding the nuance of the “tension reduction hypothesis” [03:50]
• How Jonas approached the research question [04:40]
• Speculation of the factors that influence the continuation of drinking alcohol [08:16]
• The participants of the study [10:35]
• Whether those with an alcohol use disorder would behave differently in the experiment [07:17]
• How we can build on Jonas’ findings for future research [13:20]
• The next steps for Jonas [15:55]

The tension reduction hypothesis is the idea that people consume alcohol to alleviate aversive states of psychological stress and negative emotions.

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 (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK).

About Jonas Dora: Jonas is an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. Most of his recent work is focused on understanding the affect regulation function of alcohol use, and the contribution of this function to the etiology of alcohol use disorders. He approaches this topic with a combination of experimental and intensive longitudinal research designs.

Original article: How people decide to consume (more) alcohol when feeling stressed https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70213

The 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Caitlin McClure-Thomas, a PhD Candidate at the National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research, the University of Queensland, Australia. The interview covers Caitlin’s systematic review and meta-analysis of self-reported exposure to cannabis advertising and its association with cannabis use and intentions.

• The different forms of cannabis advertisements available [1:33]
• Legal framework surrounding cannabis advertisements [03:10]
• The hidden risks and harms of advertising cannabis [04:57]
• The importance of studying the relationship between cannabis advertisements and cannabis use [05:57]
• The key findings of the study [07:17]
• Whether the relationship differs between different forms of advertisements [09:30]
• Advertisements and attitudes towards cannabis [11:24]
• The implications of the findings for policy [13:00]
• Regulating social media advertising [15:00]
• The next steps in cannabis advertising research [16:39]

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 (UK) and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bath (UK).

About Caitlin McClure-Thomas: Caitlin is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland’s National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research. Her research explores how cannabis messaging shapes people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. She examines how exposure to cannabis promotions, including advertising and broader media messaging is associated with cannabis use and intentions. Through systematic reviews and empirical research, Caitlin aims to better understand the public health implications of cannabis communication in a rapidly changing policy landscape. Her work seeks to inform evidence-based approaches to harm reduction and contribute to discussions about cannabis regulation.

Original article: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-reported exposure to cannabis advertising and its association with cannabis use and intentions https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70310

The 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.