The Addictive Potential of the E-Cigarette: Neurobiological, sociological and epidemiological perspectives

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Ute Mons; Professor Dr. Sven Schneider; Professorin Dr. Sabine Vollstädt-Klein
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 437718741

Worldwide, the e-cigarette market is expanding. While the addictive potential of nicotine is undisputed, the marketing of e-cigarettes as a "healthy" alternative to tobacco harbours the danger that they will be established as a new lifestyle product, thereby undermining tobacco control efforts. So far, however, there have been hardly any studies on the addictive potential of e-cigarettes containing nicotine and its implications for prevention.In this project, this gap is to be closed by investigating the addictive potential of e-cigarettes through three different lenses by combining different investigation methods and levels of observation: (1) the neurobiological addictive potential of e-cigarettes, (2) the experience and perception of addiction symptoms among users of e-cigarettes in a social context and (3) the epidemiological perspective with regards to factors influencing the addictive potential. In doing so, core symptoms of addiction such as the extent of rewarding effects, withdrawal symptoms, craving and tolerance for the substance are investigated.The first part of the study focuses on the investigation of rewarding effects using neurobiological and neuropsychological measures. The second part of the study focuses on self-reports by consumers and covers psychological, physiological and behavioral aspects of substance use disorders (i.e. withdrawal symptoms and craving). In the third part of the study, addiction symptoms are examined in a longitudinal study with a focus on tolerance development and the role of psychosocial and product factors with regard to transitions into and out of e-cigarette consumption.The results of the project are relevant for the development of preventive healthcare and new treatment options. Thus, not only conclusions for prevention from sociological and epidemiological analyses will be derived, but the neurobiological approach will also provide implications for individualized therapy by identifying consumer groups with different neuronal patterns.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants