Tobacco & Alcohol Research Group

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News and blog | School of Psychological Science | University of Bristol

Research involvement opportunity for young people/parents!
Are you a parent of an 11-17-year-old who attends a school in South-West England? Would they like to have their say in a 2-hour online workshop and receive a £30 voucher as a thank you?
In the workshop, attendees will be asked to share their views on what makes some young people use e-cigarettes, and what prevents others from using them. Your child does not have to have ever vaped or smoked to take part.
If you are interested, please follow the link below for more information about the workshops and how to sign up.
https://tinyurl.com/vapeworkshop23
Note: Proof of age and location required.

Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

Find out how seed funding enabled three researchers to develop their projects by including the ideas and experience of patients and the public:

2022: Public engagement in health research | Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research | University of Bristol Find out how seed funding enabled three researchers to develop their projects by including the ideas and experience of patients and the public.

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🔷Blog: https://targ.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

TARG Blog – The To***co and Alcohol Research Group blog Involving the Public in Research: Taking the Mobile Lab on the Road Posted on November 9, 2022November 9, 2022 by pr16096 Amy Campbell, Hannah Sallis & Robyn Wootton How do you feel about researchers tracking your mood using technology? How about tracking your physical activity or your sleep? How mu...

Alumni TARG researcher Kayleigh Easey is recruiting women who have personal experience of menopause to take part in a focus group in Bristol. You will be reimbursed £15 & local travel costs. Info⬇️

Call for participants: An investigation of how individual differences affect reward processing

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/brain/targ/participants/individual-reward-process/

This is a new study seeking expressions of interest. We are waiting for ethics approval before we recruit to this study, but if you are interested, please get in touch and we will send you the study details as soon as approval is received.

What is the study about?
This study aims to understand how individual differences contribute to reward processing. Rewards include things like food, money, and meeting friends and family. Our knowledge of rewards and how they are processed is limited. However, we do know that problems with reward processing can be a symptom of a mental health condition. This study uses different tasks that test reward processing and help us to understand different types of rewards better and to understand how processing rewards may differ between individuals.

What will I have to do as a participant?
We are looking for specific groups of people to take part in this study, therefore, we first require you to fill out a 10-minute questionnaire online, that asks about your behaviour over the last 6 months. Based on your answers, you may or may not be eligible to take part. If you are eligible, you will be emailed with further details.

If you are eligible you will be asked to attend one 70-minute testing session at the To***co and Alcohol laboratory, in the School of Psychological Science, at the University of Bristol.

Will I be reimbursed?
Participants who complete the screening questionnaire, but are not eligible for the study, will not be reimbursed. However, those who are eligible and complete the study, will be given the option to enter a prize draw to win one of five shopping vouchers available worth between £10-£50. Winners can choose where to spend their voucher (either Amazon, Etsy, or Love2Shop). University of Bristol Psychology students will be assigned either 1 Experimental Hours credit for taking part in the study, or entry into the prize draw but not both.

Inclusion criteria:
Adults aged 18-years-old or above
Fluent in English
Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision
Able to wear a face covering during the testing session
Exclusion criteria:
Current use of any psychiatric medication
Current severe psychiatric or neurological condition
Current substance dependency (excluding caffeine or ni****ne)
Current upper body injury or weakness
Extreme vulnerability to COVID-19
Inability to wear face covering during in-person testing session
Anyone who displays COVID-19 symptoms upon attendance of in-person testing session
Alcohol use in 12 hours prior to study session as exclusion criteria
Ni****ne or caffeine consumption in 30 minutes prior to study session as exclusion criteria

Call for Participants: "Investigating Consumer Preferences for Protein Sources"

We are looking for healthy volunteers to take part in a research study.

This study aims to understand your preferences for different food products commonly found in supermarkets, specifically for protein sources. This work will help us understand consumer choice, which has important implications for individuals and society.

After reading the study information and consenting to participation, you will complete a short survey to assess your eligibility to participate in the study. If you are eligible, you will be asked some basic demographic questions. Then you will complete a task where you will be shown a series of food products that you might see in a supermarket, and you will be asked to choose between them. Finally, once the study is complete, you will be debriefed about the full nature of the study.

Participants will be given the opportunity to enter a competition for a £50 Amazon Voucher prize draw. If you wish to enter this optional prize draw, a link will be provided at the end of the study for you to do so.

The study is 20 minutes long.

Inclusion Criteria
-Be 18 years of age or over
-Be a current UK resident
-Be fluent in English
-Be able to access the study on a computer/laptop/tablet

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/brain/targ/participants/protein_sources/

Please read our Participant Information Sheet carefully for full details (via the above link).

If you have any questions about the study that have not been answered by the above information, please contact Yasmin Sachdev ([email protected]).

Investigating Consumer Preferences for Protein Sources This study aims to understand your preferences for different food products commonly found in supermarkets, specifically for protein sources. This work will help us understand consumer choice, which has important implications for individuals and society.

New Paper: "Psychological Distress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Adults in the United Kingdom Based on Coordinated Analyses of 11 Longitudinal Studies" by researchers including TARG's Gareth J. Griffith

Psychological Distress Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Adults in the UK This cohort study investigates changes in mental health and sociodemographic inequalities from before and across the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 11 longitudinal studies in the United Kingdom.

New Publication: "A systematic review of the reporting and methodological quality of studies that use Mendelian randomisation in UK Biobank" from researchers including TARG's Amy Campbell, Marcus Munafo, Jasmine Khouja, and Mark Gibson

A systematic review of the reporting and methodological quality of studies that use Mendelian randomisation in UK Biobank Background Mendelian randomisation (MR) is a method of causal inference that uses genetic variation as an instrumental variable (IV) to account for confounding. While the number of MR articles published each year is rapidly rising (partly due to large cohort studies such as the UK Biobank making it....

You can read our April newsletter here: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/brain/targ/news/2022/news---april-newsletter.html

Want to keep up to date with TARG's latest call for participants, news, and publications? Sign up to our emailing list here: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/brain/targ/join-our-mailing-list/

Call for participants!
Title: Effects of 7.5% carbon dioxide (CO2) inhalation on cognitive performance
Who can take part?
In order to take part you should be:
• 18-50 years old
• In good physical and psychiatric health
• Currently registered with a General Practitioner (GP)
What’s involved?
Attend two sessions in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol.
• Session 1: Eligibility check and practice session (60 mins approx.)
• Session 2: Complete two inhalation procedures while completing computer tasks (total session 3 hours approx.).
Inhalations will EITHER be of normal (medical) air or an air with higher levels of carbon dioxide (7.5%) than normal, which temporarily induces feelings of anxiety.
Duration of study: 4 hours
Reimbursement: £40
More information: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/.../co2-cognitive-performance/

We need E-cigarette users (va**rs), who do not smoke, to take part in a new study testing the performance of a smartwatch-based system for measuring va**ng behaviour.
You will be reimbursed for your time.
Find out more here: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/psychology/research/brain/targ/participants/va**ng-wearable-tech/