What Determines Harm from Addictive Substances and Behaviours?

The multifaceted nature of harmful substance use and gambling requires interdisciplinary analysis to assess the underlying causes. What Determines Harm from Addictive Substances and Behaviours? draws together evidence from twelve disciplines including anthropology, genetics, neurobiology, and public policy. Using a developmental approach, the book presents evidence on the factors that influence the development of harmful substance use and gambling.

The determinants of harm operate at three levels: molecular, individual, and social. This book brings to light the complex interplay between them and presents the scientific, social, economic, political, and psychological influences of harmful substance use and gambling. These individual determinants are then synthesised into an integrative heuristic model to encourage new ways of thinking. The findings from this analysis are used to elaborate key general implications for health and broader social policy, clinical practice, and future research.

What Determines Harm from Addictive Substances and Behaviours? is based on research from ALICE RAP, a multidisciplinary European study of addictive substances and behaviours in contemporary society. This is an essential resource for public health professionals, stakeholders influencing policy for addictive substances and behaviours, students, and academics looking to better understand the factors influencing substance use and gambling and the implications this research has for addiction prevention policy.

Dr Lucy Gell is a public health specialist with a particular interest in alcohol and other substance misuse. Between 2009 and 2015 she engaged in a range of behaviour change and policy development and appraisal projects at the University of Sheffield, first as a PhD student and then a Research Associate within the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group. From 2013 to 2015 she worked with Jane McLeod and the ALICE RAP team to develop the interdisciplinary synthesis for the ALICE RAP project. Dr Gell is currently a Registrar in Public Health Medicine.

Gerhard Bühringer is Professor of Addiction Research at the Technische Universität in Dresden and Chairman of the IFT Institut für Therapieforschung in Munich. His main topics of research are: aetiology and course of substance use disorders and pathological gambling, including vulnerability and risk factors; treatment service system analysis. Special interests include the interaction of individual, social and cultural factors for the onset, course and cessation of substance use and gambling (disorders). Professor Bühringer is a member of scientific advisory boards and management boards of German and international associations in the field of addiction research; a member of editorial boards of German and international scientific journals; Editor-in-Chief of SUCHT; Assistant Editor of ADDICTION; Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Monitoring Centre of Drugs and Drug Addiction; and President of the International Confederation of Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Research Associations.

Dr Jane McLeod is a molecular biologist with previous research experience in bone biology, genetic toxicology and monoclonal antibody production. From 2011 to 2014 Jane worked as a science writer on the ALICE RAP project, based at the University of Sheffield. In this role she worked with discipline experts and the project leaders to develop the interdisciplinary synthesis. Dr McLeod is currently a Scientific Writer for Avacta Life Sciences.

Dr Sarah Forberger is a Research Associate at the Leibniz-Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology. She is trained in politics and informatics, receiving her PhD in 2012 from Technische Universität Dresden. Dr Forberger has worked on and managed several EU-funded projects (AMPHORA, BUILDING CAPACITY, ALICE RAP) and was managing editor of the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research (IJMPR) (2005-2015).

Her research focus is public policy, regulation and compliance research in the field of substance use and addictive disorders. She is an expert in the field of PhD/MD training and research and since 2008 has been the Scientific Manager of the European Graduate School in Addiction Research (ESADD).

Dr John Holmes is a Senior Research Fellow in Public Health at the University of Sheffield. He completed his PhD in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York. His doctoral thesis examined risks of online communication and inequalities of internet access. He then worked at the Institute for Social Change at the University of Manchester on research examining influences on child well-being and development as part of 'Social Change: A Harvard Manchester Initiative'.

Dr Holmes joined the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield in 2010 where he has published research on the potential effects of minimum unit pricing and issues of measurement and temporal processes in alcohol epidemiology.

Professor Anne Lingford-Hughes is Professor of Addiction Biology at Imperial College London. She is also a Consultant Psychiatrist with a particular interest in pharmacological treatments of alcohol problems and comorbidity at Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Lingford-Hughes graduated in medicine from Oxford University, completed her PhD at Cambridge University and trained in psychiatry at The Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals and Institute of Psychiatry. Her research has focused on using PET and fMRI neuroimaging and neuropharmacological challenges to characterize the neurobiology of addiction, particularly alcoholism and opiate dependence. Professor Lingford-Hughes has also contributed to NICE guidance about treating alcohol and opiate addiction. She led the addiction guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology as well as contributing to others about comorbidity. She is currently Chair of the Academic Faculty of Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Professor Petra Meier is Professor of Public Health at the School of Health and Related Research in the University of Sheffield and Director of the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group. Her team developed the Sheffield Alcohol Policy Model, which has been influential in informing current debate on alcohol policy in the UK and beyond.

Professor Meier studied psychology at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, before completing an MSc by Res in Child Health (University of Hertfordshire), followed by a PhD in Epidemiology & Health Sciences at the University of Manchester where she was a lecturer before joining the University of Sheffield in 2006. Her research interests include alcohol policies and their effectiveness, especially pricing, marketing and availability policies; determinants of substance use, misuse and addiction; substance misuse treatment evaluation and outcomes.