The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

Introduction to the Special Series on Community Approaches to Addiction

Adam O’Malley was at a pub in the northern English city of Leeds when something caught his attention: a coaster that read, “Is there a mate missing around this table? Reach out to him.” O’Malley flipped the coaster over to find another message: “If your mate’s acting differently, it could be a sign of a mental health problem: Reach out to him, be yourself, do what you love together.” Surprised and impressed by this approach to promoting men’s mental health, O’Malley posted photos of the coasters on Twitter, where they went viral. It turns out the coasters are part of... Read more →

Models and Theories: How We Understand Responsible Gambling

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the application of models and theories to our understanding of responsible gambling, was written by Howard Shaffer, Morris E. Chafetz Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioral Sciences at Harvard Medical School and Distinguished Faculty at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, Robert Ladouceur, Professor Emeritus in the School of Psychology at the Université Laval, and Alex Blaszczynski, Professorial Research Fellow & Co-Director or the Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic, Brain and Mind Centre, at the University of Sydney, as part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

Recognizing Stigma Embedded in Diagnostic Criteria for Substance Use Disorders

Editor’s note: This op-ed about the enduring consequences of the moral model of addiction, was written by Tanya Freedland, MPS, LADC, a Clinical Trainer and Research Associate at the Center for Practice Transformation, and Robert Krueger, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, is part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

A Paradigm Shift

Editor’s note: This op-ed was written by Elda Chan, PhD, the Director of St. John’s Cathedral Counselling Service and the Clinical and Research Consultant for the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals’ Integrated Center for Addiction Prevention and Treatment in Hong Kong, as part of this month’s Special Series on Theories of Addiction. Read more →

Introduction to the Special Series on Theories of Addiction

More than 30 years ago, Dr. Howard Shaffer, then Director of the Division on Addiction, warned about “conceptual crises” in the field of addiction. In that paper, he noted that the field was characterized by many “mini-theories,” a “lack of integration between research, theory, and practice,” and a general lack of agreement on the key components of addiction. Though the field has made immense progress in the past three decades, it still struggles with the absence of a single integrated theory of addiction and the presence of multiple definitions and models. But why does it matter? Why do we need... Read more →

Open Science Practices to Support Addiction Research

Editor’s note: This op-ed was written by David Mellor, PhD, of the Center for Open Science, as part of this month’s Special Series on Open Science Practices in addiction research. Being able to replicate a colleague’s reported empirical observations is a central premise of how scientific discoveries are expected to be disseminated. This ideal has been central to the expectations of scientific processes for centuries and separates credible findings from incredible observations. The motto of the Royal Society, “Nullius in verba” or “On the word of no one,” exemplifies this ideal by specifying that demonstrating a finding is more important... Read more →

Can the Open Science Revolution Revolutionise Gambling Research?

Editor’s Note: This editorial was written by Drs. Robert Heirene & Sally Gainsbury as part of our Special Series on Open Science Practices. The crisis Over the last 8-10 years there has been a sharp increase in meta-research––that is, research of research; studies of studies. These studies have highlighted a host of poor practices used by scientists when conducting and reporting their research, including P-hacking, (S)HARKing, biased publication decisions, selective outcome reporting, and the use of small, under-powered sample sizes (see Box 1). These practices pose serious concerns for our confidence in the scientific enterprise and are thought to be... Read more →

Introduction to The BASIS Special Series on Open Science Practices

During January 1996, the Division on Addiction created The WAGER, which was the precursor to The BASIS. We created The WAGER because academic research, including addiction research, often is locked behind paywalls. This history suggests that The WAGER was an early open science initiative. We have carried this support for open science forward into our work for The BASIS. The BASIS’s mission is to minimize addiction’s harmful effects by providing the general public, treatment providers, policy makers and others with access to addiction research. Today, interest in open science is growing, in part due to the replication crisis first observed... Read more →

The BASIS Year In Review - 2019

Another successful year of The BASIS has come to a close. In 2019, we continued to cover important advances in addiction research. We also presented Special Series on Gambling Disorder, Addiction and Stigma, and Addiction and Social Media featuring many insightful op-eds. For instance, former Director of National Drug Control Policy Michael Botticelli and Massachusetts Director of Programs for The Phoenix Sydney Durand explained how stigma affects recovery from addiction. Cyberaddiction experts Dr. Stephanie Diez and Dr. David Greenfield highlighted the dangers of excessive social media use. And Lisa Lundrigan shared the powerful story of her father’s recovery from gambling... Read more →

What’s Next in Open Science for the Division on Addiction?

During 2009, the Division on Addiction (Division) announced the launch of the Transparency Project,1 a free open access data archive for addiction-related research, especially that which is funded by private interests. This launch reflected our own interests in accelerating addiction science and increasing public and professional trust in published addiction research. Regarding professional trust and open data, we noted, “Ultimately, to the benefit of health providers as well as to political and legal decision-makers deciding on complex addiction-related issues, the Transparency Project will enhance confidence in scientific findings,” (Shaffer, LaPlante, Chao, Planzer, LaBrie, & Nelson, 2009, p. 7). Consistently, the Pew Research Center recently published a report indicating that public confidence in research is greater when researchers engage in data sharing and other contemporary open science practices. Read more →