Check out a new publication that TARG member @clairevgarnett.bsky.social contributed to, led by @sharoncox.bsky.social on exploring differences in gradual versus abrupt smoking cessation quit attempts and success by social grade: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TARG has been at Cumberland Lodge for the last 3 days for our annual academic retreat. It's been a great few days discussing future plans and new grant ideas, as well as some competitive quizzing (thanks to Angela Attwood!) and games.
Claire Garnett stood next to her poster on understanding the motives, strategies and goals of alcohol reduction attempts among people who drink at risky levels in the UK
💬 Claire Garnett presented on the motives, strategies and goals of alcohol reduction attempts among people drinking at risky levels.
Five researchers from TARG stood in a line smiling.
TARG researchers @oliviamaynard.bsky.social, Angela Attwood, @c-stone.bsky.social, Oliver Bastiani and @clairevgarnett.bsky.social were in Newcastle last week for the Society for the Study of Addiction annual conference.
@kdeloyde.bsky.social @ClaireVGarnett @JennFerrar @Clarke_NC1 @MarkAPilling @joe__matthews @OliviaMaynard17 @GJHollands @MarcusMunafo @AngelaAttwood
🔊Blog out today: How a simple swap led to lasting changes in pub and bars across South West England - What happened after the alcohol-free draught beer introduction study?
bit.ly/4mzFi7C
Project #4: Optimising uptake and personalisation of digital health interventions for under-served groups: a case study with the Drink Less app
With lead supervisor @clairevgarnett.bsky.social
gw4biomed.ac.uk/optimising-u...
Looking for a MRC-funded PhD opportunity with TARG? We have four projects being advertised with @gw4biomeddtp.bsky.social (who have up to 17 4-year PhD studentships available for home & international students).
Applications close on 20 Oct 2025 at 5pm: gw4biomed.ac.uk
New paper! We used focus groups and arts-based methods to explore whether people ‘other’ when making judgements about harmful drinking and the drinking contexts and features of drinking contexts perceived as being indicative of harmful drinking. bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
This was a huge team effort: @melissaoldham.bsky.social Gemma Loebenberg, Larisa Dina, Emma Beard, @victimofmaths.bsky.social Robyn Burton, @fieldmatt.bsky.social Felix Greaves, Matt Hickman, @eileenkaner.bsky.social @susanmichie.bsky.social Marcus Munafo, Elena Pizzo and @jamiebrown.bsky.social
7️⃣ And last but not least, the health economic evaluation examining the cost-effectiveness of the Drink Less app and modelling the potential health, health economic and health inequality impact of a large-scale rollout of the app in England - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
6️⃣ This article was the second part of the process evaluation focusing on the mechanisms of action, i.e. the psychological constructs and engagement with the intervention. This explored why and how the intervention was effective - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
5️⃣ This was the first part of the process evaluation, focusing on the acceptability of the two interventions: Drink Less app and NHS website. These qualitative interviews were semi-structured and conducted with a subsample of participants - www.jmir.org/2024/1/e42319
4️⃣ This article reported the main trial findings and established the effectiveness of the Drink Less app at reducing alcohol consumption among increasing and higher-risk adult drinkers among the general population in the UK - www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
3️⃣ This article used our remotely conducted trial as a case study to highlight and discuss (1) the issues with participant deception relating to financial compensation, and (2) the importance of rigorous data management to detect and address these issues - www.jmir.org/2023/1/e46523
2️⃣ Here we presented methodological insights from the trial in terms of recruitment and retention strategies, highlighting how different sources of remote recruitment compare in terms of cost-effectiveness, retention rates, data quality and demographic diversity - formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e51839
1️⃣ This was the protocol, outlining the background for the trial, the methods and the analysis plan - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Screenshot of the first page of a NIHR synopsis report titled "Evaluating the effectiveness of the Drink Less smartphone app for reducing alcohol consumption compared with usual digital care: a comprehensive synopsis from a 6-month follow-up RCT"
Image showing project flowchart of seven components. RA=research article.
🚨📄 The final synopsis from our evaluation of the effectiveness of the Drink Less app has now been published on the NIHR Journals Library website, available here: www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/LNNB8060 - this draws together all seven of the published scientific papers relating to the award...
I presented (and got really useful feedback on) the first study as part of my NIHR fellowship on the motives for making alcohol reduction attempts, reasons not to, strategies used and goals set among adults who drink at risky levels in the UK.
Had a fabulous time at my first KBS conference #KBS2025. Huge thanks to @kettilbruunsociety.bsky.social and everyone involved in organising it from Stirling and Glasgow for such an interesting, well organised and friendly conference to attend.
Looking for people aged 18-30 in the UK to take part in research about attitudes towards people who use drugs. For more information, and to sign up please see here: bristolexppsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
New paper shows smoking, and to a lesser extent non-combustible nicotine use, is associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption and risky drinking
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Screenshot of ARCR website that reads "This site can't be reached"
The peer-reviewed NIAAA journal, Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, and all of the previously open access papers published in the journal have been removed from the web. arcr.niaaa.nih.gov/about-arcr
An informative yet depressing read about what's going on inside NIH in the US
"...said changes [...] are an outrage, a vindictive ideological assault on agencies that (for all their flaws) have helped produce major scientific advances in more fields than I can name."
www.science.org/content/blog...
Today ONS have published data on alcohol-specific deaths across the UK in 2023. We already knew most of the figures, but there are a few new bits of detail in today's release.
The headline is that alcohol deaths have risen to their highest level on record. Which is obviously pretty bleak.
I hope so as I’d love to share the link! Brilliant talk, thank you 🙏
I'm attending in person (really looking forward to it!) and got this message: "This is an in-person event at the City Hall and will not be streamed. There will be live BSL translation of the event and a transcription will be available afterwards." so I don't think there'll be a video recording of it
🚨 New paper out on the effect of a large-scale rollout of the Drink Less app expertly led by @victimofmaths.bsky.social and funded by @nihr.bsky.social
Full paper available here: www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S109...
Great thread from Colin below....
Brilliant paper and expertly led, Colin! Great graphs too 👏
Some nice coverage of our new study from the BBC here
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
