1,721,093 research outputs found

    A trauma model of substance use: Elaboration and preliminary validation

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    The current study expands on and integrates previous theoretical models concerning the pathways that link child maltreatment to substance use disorder. The proposed model, based on the self-medication hypothesis, suggests that experiences of neglect and abuse during childhood can lead to substance use and abuse both directly and indirectly, via dissociation resulting from failed attempts to integrate experiences of maltreatment in childhood. The model was tested on ten substances (painkillers, stimulants, sedatives, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens, heroin, inhalants, and methamphetamine) via structural equation modeling (SEM) in a sample comprising 1040 community-dwelling adults (67 % women) aged between 18 and 78 (M = 29.55, SD = 11.37). Fit indexes of the SEM were good, thus supporting the hypothesized model. Specific forms of child maltreatment were related to increased use of specific substances; however, experience of childhood neglect (both physical and emotional) was found to have a central role in predicting use of most substances. Although no single pathway can fully explain the origins of substance abuse, the current study provides evidence of a critical developmental pathway to it, with implications for theory and clinical practice

    Problematic social networking sites use and attachment: A systematic review

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    A systematic review of the literature was conducted to summarize research that examined the associations between problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU) and attachment-related phenomena among adolescents and adults. Records were included in the systematic review if they presented original data, assessed attachment and PSNSU, were published in peer-reviewed journals between 2004 and 2021 and were written in English. After duplicates removal, 373 studies were found eligible for scrutiny. Among the screened full texts, 32 articles met the eligibility criteria. The selected studies included a total of 16,938 participants. Findings from these studies highlighted that PSNSU is negatively associated with indicators of secure attachment and positively associated with indicators of attachment anxiety, whereas results regarding indicators of attachment avoidance were mixed. Furthermore, an analysis of mediators showed that the relationship between PSNU and attachment-related phenomena is affected by individual, interpersonal, and SNS-related variables. Future directions for research as well as implications for clinical practice are discussed

    The Doctor Is In(ternet): The Mediating Role of Health Anxiety in the Relationship between Somatic Symptoms and Cyberchondria

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    Cyberchondria is a dysfunctional behavioral pattern characterized by an excessive and anxiety-amplifying engagement in searching for reassuring health information on the Internet. Research demonstrated that somatic symptoms and health anxiety might foster maladaptive health-related behaviors, such as cyberchondria. However, the relationships between somatic symptoms, health anxiety, and cyberchondria have been scarcely examined. Accordingly, this study aimed to test the mediating effect of health anxiety on the association between somatic symptoms and cyberchondria. Four hundred and thirty-one adults from the community (158 males, 36.66%), aged between 18 and 74, were recruited via an online survey. Participants completed self-report measures of somatic symptoms, health anxiety, and cyberchondria. A mediation analysis demonstrated that the severity of somatic symptoms predicted increased levels of cyberchondria and that health anxiety partially mediated this association. Therefore, interventions aimed at decreasing health anxiety may also play a role in decreasing the risk of developing cyberchondria

    Further evidence for the bidimensionality of the components model of addiction: a reply to Amendola (2023)

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    In our original research article entitled “Deconstructing the components model of addiction: an illustration through “addictive” use of social media” (Fournier et al., 2023), we showed that the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, a six-item psychometric instrument derived from the components model of addiction to assess social media “addiction”, did not form a unitary, but a bidimensional construct in which some components (i.e., salience, tolerance) were not associated with psychopathological symptoms, thus conflating central and peripheral features of addiction. Subsequently, in a recent commentary, Amendola (2023) sought to determine whether our findings were driven by the use of data aggregated from multiple independent datasets, i.e., a decision we transparently acknowledged as a limitation in our original research article. Following their re-analysis, Amendola (2023) claimed to have demonstrated that a unidimensional model best fitted the data. However, they only reported results for a partial set of models relevant to this investigation. In the present reply, through a transparent assessment and reporting of all unidimensional and bidimensional models relevant to this investigation, we show that the bidimensionality of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale is, in fact, tenable, robust, and consistent across multiple independent datasets. In line with the growing evidence demonstrating that many sets of criteria involved in operationalizing behavioral addictions pathologize involvement in appetitive behaviors, these results highlight the necessity to renew the conceptualization and assessment of behavioral addictions

    Online gaming and prolonged self-isolation: Evidence from Italian gamers during the COVID-19 outbreak

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    Objective: The self-isolation measures employed during the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for basic needs to be met, thus increasing emotional distress. It has been suggested that socially meaningful online gaming buffered emotional distress during the lockdown. This study aimed to test the protective effect of online gaming during the lockdown and to investigate the differences between highly involved gamers (those who play videogames intensely without adverse consequences) and problematic gamers in this regard. Method: Capitalizing on a data collection that started before the pandemic, we adopted a cross-sectional between-groups study design in which gaming patterns, gaming-related variables and levels of emotional distress were compared between a pre-COVID group (N=298) and a COVID group (N=366). Results: Compared to the pre-COVID group, high involvement in gaming was more prominent and emotional distress was decreased in the COVID group. Moderated regression analyses further revealed that the interaction between social compensation via gaming and highly involved gaming was associated with lower levels of emotional distress in the COVID-19 group. In contrast, the interaction between gaming-related relaxation and problematic gaming predicted higher emotional distress in the COVID-19 group. Conclusions: This study suggests that gaming for social compensation might miti-gate the experienced emotional distress during pandemic related self-isolation, whereas maladaptive gaming patterns could constitute a vulnerability factor deserving clinical attention
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