What works for treating cannabis use disorder with Monika Halicka

In this episode, Dr Chloe Burke talks to Dr Monika Halicka, a Senior Research Associate at the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, UK. The interview covers a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for cannabis use disorder.

· An overview of Monika’s paper [1:00]

· The different types of psychosocial interventions found in the review [02:55]

· What ‘inactive controls’ and ‘non-specific controls’ are with regards to psychosocial interventions [04:30]

· Deciding on the outcomes of focus for the study [06:00]

· The results of the meta-analysis in which psychosocial interventions had clinically meaningful improvements in abstinence [07:31]

· The potential adverse events occurring from psychosocial interventions [09:31]

· Recommendations for clinical practice and the hesitancy in making these recommendations [10:41]

· The take home message of the study [12:24]

About Chloe Burke: Chloe is a Senior Research Associate in Evidence Synthesis based in the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol. Her current role applies evidence synthesis methodologies (e.g. network meta-analysis) to health-related topics, including addiction. She has a background in psychiatric epidemiology with a focus on applying causal inference methods (e.g. Mendelian randomization) to the topic of substance use and mental health. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Bath, which investigated the co-use of cannabis and tobacco and depression risk. She is currently co-chair of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Genetics and Omics Network.

About Monika Halicka: Monika is a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Evidence Synthesis Group and works as a senior research associate in evidence synthesis at Bristol Medical School (University of Bristol, UK). With a background in psychology and neuroscience, her previous research focused on applying experimental psychology and statistical modelling approaches to health-related problems, largely in the context of chronic pain. Having transitioned to evidence synthesis, she is interested in robust statistical synthesis methods.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Original article: Effectiveness and safety of psychosocial interventions for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70084

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