Epidemiology & Development
We are interested in trends in addictive behaviour. We study for example the use of alternative tobacco products such as e-cigarette and waterpipe in adolescents and young adults. And we are interested in other addictive behavior (not substance use related) such as compulsive internet use or ‘food addiction’. We are the first who collected data on food addiction in a large sample of adolescents (previous studies focused on children or on adults) in combination with information on substance use (smoking, alcohol, cannabis).
We have collected data on this topic in the “Tr&nds” study (Tr&nds =Traditional & Novel Substance use among Adolescents) among more than 2500 adolescents and young adults. Furthermore, as very little is known about precursors of alcohol consumption rooted in childhood we study the role and dynamic interplay of alcohol exposure and the early acquisition and development of alcohol knowledge and its norms in adult culture as the basis for alcohol expectancies as well as the transition from alcohol expectancies to drinking motives to alcohol consumption in early adolescence.