Issue 4/2025
Addiction in Transition: Regulation, Prevention, and Digital Change
Contemporary addiction research increasingly demonstrates that risk behaviours related to substance use, gambling, and sexual health are shaped not only by individual vulnerabilities but also by broader social, regulatory, and technological environments. The present issue brings together four original studies that collectively highlight how structural changes, ranging from regulatory frameworks and educational practices to digital technologies and crisis-driven transformations, interact with individual behaviour and public health outcomes. Although each article focuses on a distinct domain, together they provide a coherent picture of current challenges and opportunities in addiction prevention, intervention, and policy across Central and broader European contexts.
The first article, Alcohol Labelling: Czech Expert Perspectives and Recommendations, addresses alcohol consumption as a persistent and culturally embedded public health issue in the Czech Republic. Using a modified Delphi method, the authors demonstrate a strong expert consensus on the need for more visible, standardized, and informative alcohol labelling. The study underscores alcohol labelling not merely as a regulatory obligation, but as a preventive communication tool capable of increasing awareness of health risks and supporting informed consumer decision-making. By drawing parallels with evidence from tobacco control and international policy developments, the article contributes to ongoing debates on how regulatory instruments can shape social norms and reduce alcohol-related harm.
While alcohol labelling operates at the level of population-wide prevention, the second article shifts attention to early, upstream intervention through education. In Towards Comprehensive Sexuality Education in the Czech Republic, the authors explore practitioners’ perspectives on sexuality education for upper primary school students. Their qualitative findings reveal significant gaps between formal curricular frameworks and everyday educational practice, particularly in addressing emotional, relational, and digital dimensions of sexuality. Practitioners emphasize topics such as consent, boundaries, online sexual risks, and help-seeking, which represent the areas that are closely linked to risk prevention, resilience, and mental well-being. This study highlights sexuality education as a crucial component of primary prevention, intersecting with broader concerns relevant to addiction research, including digital environments, vulnerability during adolescence, and the development of protective psychosocial skills.
The role of digital technologies in both risk and recovery is examined more directly in the third article Ecological Momentary Assessment and Ecological Momentary Interventions in Substance Use Disorders Recovery. This pilot study introduces the use of a mobile application based on ecological momentary assessment and intervention principles in post-treatment recovery. The findings illustrate how real-time monitoring and timely interventions can support self-awareness, emotional regulation, and relapse prevention in everyday life. Although exploratory in nature, the study points to the growing potential of personalized digital tools in addiction treatment, while also acknowledging challenges related to engagement, content diversity, and long-term effectiveness. In doing so, it reflects a broader shift toward integrating technology into therapeutic practice.
The final article, The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Gambling in Europe, situates individual behaviour within a macro-level context of market dynamics and crisis-induced change. Through secondary analysis of European gambling market data, the authors document how the pandemic accelerated a structural shift from land-based to online gambling. While overall gambling activity initially declined, the sustained growth of online and mobile gambling raises important concerns regarding accessibility, continuous exposure, and potential harm. The study reinforces the need for adaptive regulatory and public health responses that reflect the realities of a rapidly digitalising gambling environment.
Altogether, the articles in this issue demonstrate that addiction-related behaviours cannot be understood in isolation from their social, educational, regulatory, and technological contexts. They highlight the importance of multi-level approaches that combine evidence-based policy, preventive education, innovative digital interventions, and continuous monitoring of structural changes. By integrating perspectives from public health, psychology, education, and policy analysis, this issue contributes to a more nuanced understanding of contemporary addiction phenomena and offers valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers alike.
Beyond their relevance in national contexts, the studies presented in this issue also keep clear significance for the international research and policy community. Although several contributions draw on Czech or European data, the challenges they address, which alcohol-related harm, gaps in sexuality education, digital support in recovery, and the rapid digitalisation of gambling belong among, they are shared across many countries and regulatory environments. The findings offer transferable insights into how prevention, education, and regulation can be adapted to changing social and technological conditions, particularly in regions facing similar cultural norms, Addiction in Transition: Regulation, Prevention, and Digital Change https://doi.org/10.35198/01-2025-003-0006 ADDICTOLOGY 179 ADIKTOLOGIE institutional constraints, or post-pandemic transformations. By combining empirical evidence with policy-relevant perspectives, this issue contributes to comparative international debates on public health, addiction prevention, and harm reduction, and provides a valuable reference point for researchers and decision-makers seeking context-sensitive yet globally applicable solutions.
Ultimately, this issue demonstrates that evidence emerging from Central and Eastern Europe is not peripheral but essential to advancing global understanding of addiction-related risks in an increasingly digital, regulated, and interconnected world.
Prof. Beata Gavurova
Executive Editor of Addictology
beata [dot] gavurova [at] lf1 [dot] cuni [dot] cz
