Alcohol and Other Drugs
The Alcohol and Other Drugs group is a multidisciplinary team of researchers from across the school with backgrounds in:
- public health
- psychology
- criminology
- neuroscience
This group was established in 2025 with the aim of increasing coproduction, participatory research, and multidisciplinary collaboration in substance use and addiction. We aim to increase the representation of seldom heard populations in our research and ensure that it is responsive to a wide variety of stakeholders’ needs and views. We work to produce impactful research that improves the lives of those affected by substances and contributes towards national and international policy and guidelines.
We use a range of research methodologies to conduct empirical research into existing literature and datasets, as well as primary data collection. The collective research activity of these LJMU staff spans:
- experimental psychology
- psychopharmacology
- epidemiology
- qualitative inquiry
- public health, with a strong shared focus on:
- alcohol
- substance use
- mental health
- health inequalities
Our work spans several interconnected themes in alcohol and substance use research:
Mechanisms of use, harm, and recovery
- Cognitive and neurophysiological effects of alcohol and other substances.
- Processes of harm, adaptation, and recovery across the life course.
- Advancing and testing theoretical frameworks to understand psychological and behavioural mechanisms underlying alcohol and substance use.
Prevention, intervention development and harm reduction
- Coproducing alcohol and substance use interventions tailored to life stages and circumstances (for example school-based programmes, maternal interventions, menopause-focused support).
- Evaluating the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of prevention and harm reduction approaches.
- Understanding, measuring, and reducing stigma experienced by people who use substances.
Policy, inequalities and social contexts
- The development, evaluation, and implications of drug and alcohol policy.
- Gendered and life-course perspectives on alcohol use, including how social and structural factors shape risk, harm, and access to support.