WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
According to the CDC, smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, where it is causally linked with more than 480,000 deaths per year and $289 billion per year in economic costs. Globally, the WHO reports that there are approximately 1 billion smokers, nearly 80% of whom live in low- to middle-income countries, and 6 million of them die every year from smoking-related causes. Smoking is causally linked to at least 15 types of cancer and more than 20 chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. Smokers die on average 14 years earlier than non-smokers. While smoking rates in the U.S. have declined, nearly one in five adults in this country still smokes and adolescents continue to initiate smoking at alarming rates. Every day in the U.S., 3800 adolescents try smoking for the first time and 2100 youth transition to daily smoking. Furthermore, youth are now being introduced to nicotine via electronic cigarettes. From 2013 to 2014, e-cigarettes use among adolescents tripled and now more adolescents have tried e-cigarettes than traditional cigarettes. Studies show that e-cigarette use places adolescents at risk for progressing to smoking traditional cigarettes and to dual use of both electronic and traditional cigarettes. Given the widespread use of tobacco products and their staggering health and economic consequences, it is essential to develop better ways to prevent adolescents from beginning to smoke and help adults quit smoking.
Moving beyond cigarette and e-cigarette use, a recent meta-analysis indicates that approximately 3% of video game users experience addiction-like symptoms. This may seem like a small percentage, but it is greater than or comparable to several other recognized substance use disorders. Symptoms can include problems with regulating video game use, even in the face of significant impairments in social, occupational, and educational functioning. Based on this evolving concern, the 11th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases now includes Gaming Disorder as a formal diagnosis. Research on problematic video game use more broadly, and Gaming Disorder more specifically, is still in its relative infancy and therefore more studies are need to identify who is most at risk and how best to treat people with this disorder.
Moving beyond cigarette and e-cigarette use, a recent meta-analysis indicates that approximately 3% of video game users experience addiction-like symptoms. This may seem like a small percentage, but it is greater than or comparable to several other recognized substance use disorders. Symptoms can include problems with regulating video game use, even in the face of significant impairments in social, occupational, and educational functioning. Based on this evolving concern, the 11th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases now includes Gaming Disorder as a formal diagnosis. Research on problematic video game use more broadly, and Gaming Disorder more specifically, is still in its relative infancy and therefore more studies are need to identify who is most at risk and how best to treat people with this disorder.
RESEARCH AGENDA
Dr. Morrell is currently most interested in studying (1) psychosocial predictors of e-cigarette use; (2) psychosocial predictors and consequences of problematic video game use; and (3) mechanisms that can explain disparities in cigarette and e-cigarette use and their health outcomes.
CURRENT PROJECTS
We have several studies that are currently in the conceptualization, data collection, and data analysis stages. Dr. Morrell is working on all of these projects directly with students. The following is not an exhaustive list of ongoing projects. We are analyzing data and publishing studies on psychosocial correlates of e-cigarette use, gambling-related correlates of video game addiction, the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure of Gaming Disorder, and the relationship between video game use/addiction and sleep. We are developing a study on disparities in e-cigarette use, mental health, and substance use, and expect to start data collection within the next 6 months. We are also in the early stages of developing another large-scale project looking broadly at discrimination and cigarette use.