About this episode

Dr Tsen Vei Lim interviews Dr Jonas Dora about how people decide to consume alcohol when feeling stressed, exploring the tension reduction hypothesis and its implications.

In this episode, Dr Tsen Vei Lim talks to Dr Jonas Dora, an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, US. The interview covers Jonas’ article examining how people decide to consume alcohol when feeling stressed . Why Jonas wanted to study the “tension reduction hypothesis” [01:18] The gaps in literature that led to the study [01:58] The importance of understanding the nuance of the “tension reduction hypothesis” [03:50] How Jonas approached the research question [04:40] Speculation of the factors that influence the continuation of drinking alcohol [08:16] The participants of the study [10:35] Whether those with an alcohol use disorder would behave differently in the experiment [07:17] How we can build on Jonas’ findings for future research [13:20] The next steps for Jonas [15:55] The tension reduction hypothesis is the idea that people consume alcohol to alleviate aversive states of psychological stress and negative emotions. About Tsen Vei Lim: Tsen Vei is an academic fellow supported by the Society for the Study of Addiction, currently based at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge. His research integrates computational modelling…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Tsen Vei Lim

Guest: Dr Jonas Dora

Topics covered

• alcohol consumption
• stress
• tension reduction hypothesis
• addictive behaviors
• psychological stress
• research methodology

Keywords

• alcohol use disorder
• stress relief
• tension reduction hypothesis
• psychological factors
• research study
• addiction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Washington, Society for the Study of Addiction, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge, University of Bath

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