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Johannes Thrul

@drjthrul.bsky.social

1K followers 430 following 64 posts

mHealth and substance use research, Associate Prof, @JohnsHopkinsDMH, @JohnsHopkinsSPH, immigrant 🇩🇪 ➡️ 🇺🇸 thrulresearchlab.com

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Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Sep 4

Targeting maladaptive pain coping may reduce craving & misuse risk.

@cdnordeck.bsky.social @momartelmcgill.bsky.social @drkellydunn.bsky.social

@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @dmh-bsph.bsky.social @hopkinsmedicine.bsky.social

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Sep 4

When do people with chronic pain crave opioids or cannabis most?

Our new study in DAD followed patients for 30 days using real-time surveys.

🔹 Craving ↑ on co-use days
🔹 Pain catastrophizing was strongest predictor
🔹 ~⅓ reported little/no craving

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lj4z1LiD3...

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Aug 29

New paper in @ecp-editor.bsky.social: Trials on cannabis for chronic pain often miss what matters most to patients: sleep, coping, function, opioid substitution. Time to look beyond pain scores. 👉 doi.org/10.1037/pha0...

@dmh-bsph.bsky.social @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Aug 14

Recent Gallup poll numbers on drinking in America show historic lows. I spoke with @nytimes.com about potential reasons incl changes in social norms, harm perceptions, and cannabis.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/w...

@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @dmh-bsph.bsky.social

U.S. Drinking Drops to New Low, Poll Finds

www.nytimes.com

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Aug 4

📢 Participants Needed!
Work from home & office?
Join a Johns Hopkins study on work environments & well-being.
🏷️ Earn a $120 gift card
📩 [email protected] | 📱 410-575-4631

Please share widely!
@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @jhpoecenter.bsky.social

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

7/ Open access paper: doi.org/10.1186/s128...
Thanks to co-first authors Saud & Michelle, all co-authors, participants, and funding by Ithra Sync.
@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social
@dmh-bsph.bsky.social

Stakeholder perspectives on digital wellbeing in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional survey - BMC Public Health

Background In Saudi Arabia, the rapid growth of digital media and smartphone use has raised concerns about problematic usage and its impacts on well-being, especially among young people. Research on s...

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

6/ These findings directly inform the next phase:
We are co-developing a digital wellbeing intervention for Saudi adolescents, to be evaluated through a randomized controlled trial.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

5/ Stakeholders emphasized the importance of culturally grounded interventions aligned with family and religious values.
Some participants described using faith-based commitments to control use.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

4/ The survey included 92 stakeholders:
– Youth, parents, and educators
– Clinicians and policymakers
– Tech professionals, gamers, and digital content creators
The sample was diverse but concentrated in central Saudi regions.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

3/ What stakeholders support:
– Strong endorsement for school-based programs and parent-targeted education (each >75% support).
– Also supported: apps to help regulate use.
– Less enthusiasm for regulatory policies or hospital-based interventions.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

2/ Key findings:
– 48% of participants reported ≥4 hrs/day of recreational screen time on weekdays (57% on weekends).
– Top concerns: sleep disruption, reduced physical activity, impaired concentration.
– 73% had attempted self-regulation (e.g., app deletion, digital detox).

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 23

1/ Our new study in BMC Public Health examines stakeholder perspectives on digital wellbeing in Saudi Arabia.
Findings point to high screen time, concerns about health impacts, and strong support for education-based interventions.
🧾 doi.org/10.1186/s128...

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 21

3/3 @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social
@dmh-bsph.bsky.social
@jhu.edu

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 21

2/3 Our approach identified 45k medicinal cannabis patients at Hopkins.

Still refining the prompt and extraction but hope to share tools later this year. In the meantime, check out our project + open-access assessment instruments:
🌿 www.cannabisandhealth.org

Cannabis and Health Research Initiative (CHRI)

A platform of data collection and dissemination focused on the health outcomes of therapeutic cannabis use at the patient level.

www.cannabisandhealth.org

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 21

1/3 Had a great time at my first @researchmj.bsky.social meeting in Detroit. Fantastic science & welcoming community. Highly recommend for anyone in the cannabis research space.

We shared our work using LLMs + NLP to extract structured data from EMRs.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 18

Thanks for your interest and the heads up. We'll get this fixed ASAP. We had a lot of bot problems with the survey in the past and maybe over-corrected on security crackdown 😆

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 14

5/5 Shoutout to an excellent group of colleagues, including senior author @juststrickland.bsky.social
@johnshopkinssph.bsky.social
@dmh-bsph.bsky.social
@jhu.edu ‬

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 14

4/5 THC-dominant medicinal cannabis may help reduce anxiety & depression, acutely & over months, in new users.
But we still need controlled trials to weigh safety, dosing, & sustainability of effects.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 14

3/5 Most people used THC-dominant products
Vaporized & oral routes were most common
Acute reductions were dose-dependent: 10–15 mg oral THC or ~3+ puffs worked best for symptom relief.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 14

2/5 Initiating THC-dominant medicinal cannabis was linked with significant acute reductions in anxiety & depression.
Symptoms dropped below clinically significant levels within 3 months for most people.

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 14

1/5 New paper on medicinal cannabis: We followed adults with clinically significant anxiety & depression who were new to medicinal cannabis using 8 weeks of EMA and 6 months of longitudinal follow up and saw significant and clinically meaningful benefits.
authors.elsevier.com/c/1lQBfbXYiy...

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 9

2/2 We’re using these in our ongoing medicinal cannabis registry and I believe harmonizing measures is key for large-scale research in cannabis. Reach out with questions or interest in collaborating. @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social @dmh-bsph.bsky.social

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · Jul 9

1/2 Cannabis researchers: We’ve developed new instruments to help standardize self-reported cannabis data.
- Cannabis Use Questionnaire (CUQ)
- Core Assessment Battery on Cannabis (CABC)
Both are free to download (Qualtrics, REDCap):
www.cannabisandhealth.org

Cannabis and Health Research Initiative (CHRI)

A platform of data collection and dissemination focused on the health outcomes of therapeutic cannabis use at the patient level.

www.cannabisandhealth.org

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · May 21

4/4 Big thank you to first author Josef Hamoud and all co-authors for an excellent collaboration. @janardan.bsky.social @felixnaughton.bsky.social

Johannes Thrul @drjthrul.bsky.social · May 21

3/4 Somehow the OSF link did not make it into the paper, but data and messages are here: osf.io/4ux8q/files/...
I hope this is useful to folks.