Addictions and smoking

This research group aims at understanding tobacco epidemics from a social science viewpoint, with a focus on socioeconomic determinants and tobacco control policies. 

This is grounded on the evidence that socioeconomic inequalities in smoking are a major driver of inequalities in health and mortality, representing a major concern for public health and social justice. There is an interest in other addictions, such as alcohol and other inequalities namely food insecurity.

At first, this group aims at understanding which are the groups where smoking is more prevalent, and more vulnerable to second-hand smoke. Investigating how the tobacco epidemics unequally diffuse in the population, and how tobacco control policies often fail to account for the different response of different socioeconomic groups, enlarging the socioeconomic gap in smoking behaviours.

Then, researchers investigate the link between socioeconomic determinants and smoking among adolescents. This requires a deep understanding of socioeconomic differentiation during adolescence, which is related to psychosocial, school and family contextual factors. At this stage the researchers use different tools than the ones used to tackle this issue in adulthood.

In terms of methodology, this group is interested in developing essentially cross-sectional observational studies and cohort studies in the area of addictions involving the following topics, among others:

1-Effectiveness of brief interventions

2-Effectiveness of self-help groups with or without pharmacological treatment

3 -Risk factors and relapse prevention

4 -Association of psychiatric comorbidity and substance use

5-Addiction to elements not necessarily substances such as co-dependence

6- Characterization of new "fashionable" drugs and their consequences

7- Cross-sectional studies on socio-economic inequalities in risk behavior

8- Longitudinal studies on the effectiveness of anti-smoking policies

9- Qualitative studies on the perception of anti-smoking policies

10- Economic evaluation of anti-tobacco interventions and policies