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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
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Readable research linked to original sources
Browse normalized, publication-ready research with direct links to its evidence and source.
17 articles
Newest firstIntroduction Socioeconomic disadvantage has been associated with cannabis use and poor mental health. It is therefore hypothesised that lower maternal education, a proxy for socioeconomic disadvantage, may increase the risk of cannabis-related mental health and substance use consequences. Methods A total of 5099 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children reported cannabis use via questio…
Open article record in new tab ↗SummaryBackgroundThe role of alcohol use in the development of depression is unclear. We aimed to investigate whether alcohol dependence, but not high frequency or quantity of consumption, during adolescence increased the risk of depression in young adulthood.MethodsIn this prospective cohort study, we included adolescents who were born to women recruited to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in A…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background Cannabis has been associated with poorer mental health, but little is known of the effect of synthetic cannabinoids or cannabidiol (often referred to as CBD). Aims To investigate associations of cannabis, synthetic cannabinoids and cannabidiol with mental health in adolescence. Method We conducted a cross-sectional analysis with 13- to 14-year-old adolescents across England and Wales in 2019-2020. Multi…
Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are classically defined as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, bullying, parental substance use or abuse, violence between parents, parental mental health problems or suicide, parental separation, or a parent convicted of criminal offence. Exposure to ACEs can be associated with cannabis use, but no comparisons across all adversities hav…
BackgroundEngagement in multiple substance use risk behaviours such as tobacco smoking, alcohol and drug use during adolescence can result in adverse health and social outcomes. The impact of interventions that address multiple substance use risk behaviours, and the differential impact of universal versus targeted approaches, is unclear given findings from systematic reviews have been mixed. Our objective was to a…
Open article record in new tab ↗BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are concerns that national population-based estimates of illicit drug use are underestimated. We investigated this by comparing estimates of illicit substance use at age 24 from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) with a birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC) and by comparing the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies (STS/ATS) to ALSPAC. DESIGN: Cr…
Background Although studies have examined the association between tobacco and cannabis use in adolescence with subsequent cognitive functioning, study designs are usually not able to distinguish correlation from causation. Methods Separate patterns of tobacco and cannabis use were derived using longitudinal latent class analysis based on measures assessed on five occasions from age 13-18 in a large UK population c…
Open article record in new tab ↗BackgroundAlthough studies have examined the association between tobacco and cannabis use in adolescence with subsequent cognitive functioning, study designs are usually not able to distinguish correlation from causation. MethodsSeparate patterns of tobacco and cannabis use were derived using longitudinal latent class analysis based on measures assessed on five occasions from age 13 to 18 in a large UK population…
Open article record in new tab ↗AIMS: We investigate the extent of and factors associated with denial of previously reported cannabis and other illicit drug use, and assess the potential of hair testing for measuring substance use in general population samples. DESIGN: Birth cohort study. SETTING: United Kingdom, 1991-present. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3643 participants who provided hair and self-report measures of cannabis and other illicit drug…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background: Few qualitative studies have investigated young people’s perspectives around influences on substance use. We aimed to examine young people’s understandings, attitudes and experiences around alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use and factors influencing substance use behaviour. Methods: Qualitative interview study involving 28 young people (13 males and 15 females) aged 18–20 years, recruited purposively on…
Open article record in new tab ↗Background. Patterns of risk behaviour during teenage years may vary by socio-economic status (SES). We aimed to examine possible associations between individual and multiple risk behaviours and three measures of SES in mid-adolescence. Methods. The sample (n = 6406) comprised participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK birth cohort. Thirteen risk behaviours spanning sexual health,…
Open article record in new tab ↗AbstractAimsTo investigate the relationship between cannabis and tobacco use by age 15 and subsequent educational outcomes.DesignBirth cohort study.SettingEngland.ParticipantsThe sample was drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; a core sample of 1155 individuals had complete information on all the variables.MeasurementsThe main exposures were cannabis and tobacco use at age 15 assessed in…
Open article record in new tab ↗IntroductionSubstance use is associated with common mental health disorders, but the causal effect of specific substances is uncertain. We investigate whether adolescent cannabis and cigarette use is associated with incident depression and anxiety, while attempting to account for confounding and reverse causation.MethodsWe used data from ALSPAC, a UK birth cohort study, to investigate associations between cannabis…
Open article record in new tab ↗There is a large body of pre-clinical and some clinical data to link the neuropeptide galanin to a range of physiological and pathological functions that include metabolism, depression, and addiction. An enhancer region upstream of the human GAL transcriptional start site has previously been characterised. In-vitro transfection studies in rat hypothalamic neurons demonstrated that the CA allele was 40% less active…
Open article record in new tab ↗AimsTo investigate the prevalence of cannabis use and problem use in boys and girls at age 16 years, and to investigate the role of adversity in early life and of conduct disorder between the ages of 4 and 13 years as risk factors for these outcomes.DesignBirth cohort study.SettingEngland.ParticipantsA total of 4159 (2393 girls) participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth coh…
Schizophrenia is a debilitating but poorly understood condition with very few known modifiable risk factors. Cannabis use can acutely induce psychotic experiences, but its causal relationship to schizophrenia is less well understood. Longitudinal cohort studies suggest that the association between cannabis and psychotic outcomes is not due to chance or reverse causation. However, the association could be due to bi…
Open article record in new tab ↗Aims: Teenagers in the UK report some of the highest rates of alcohol use in Europe. We identify patterns of alcohol use in early adolescence and relate these to hazardous and harmful alcohol use at age 16. Methods: In a UK birth cohort, we analysed repeated measures of alcohol use from age 13 to 15 in a sample of 7100 adolescents. Data on drinking frequency and typical consumption when drinking were modelled sepa…
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