A 7 tételes szenzoros élménykeresés kérdőív (SSS-7-HU) bemutatása = The 7-Item Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-7-HU)

Háttér: A 40 tételes Szenzoros Élménykeresés Skála V kiváló reliabilitás- és validitásmutatókkal rendelkezik, alkalmazását azonban számos kontextusban megnehezíti kitöltésének időigényessége. Célkitűzés: Vizsgálatunk célja egy olyan mérőeszköz kialakítása volt, amely az eredeti mérőeszköz pszichometriai tulajdonságainak megőrzése mellett kevesebb tétellel, s ily módon kevésbé időigényes módon méri az általános élménykeresés vonást. Módszer: Áttekintettük a szenzoros élménykeresés dimenziót vizsgáló rövidített mérőeszközöket, valamint a velük kapcsolatos vizsgálati eredményeket, majd a hazai gyakorlatban elterjedt 9 állítás-párból álló rövidített kérdőív pszichometriai jellemzőit vizsgáltuk négy független mintán. Eredmények: Az elemzések az eredeti 9 itemes kérdőívvel szemben egy rövidebb, 7 tételes verzió kialakítását támogatták. A 7 tételes kérdőív megbízható, továbbá a különböző kockázati magatartásokkal való pozitív korrelációja a skála validitását jelzi. Következtetések: A 7 itemes Rövidített Szenzoros Élménykeresés Skála (SSS-7-HU) érvényesen és megbízhatóan alkalmazható a szenzoros élménykeresés vonás mérésére. | Background: The 40-item Sensation Seeking Scale V has outstanding reliability and validity indices. Under many circumstances, however, its applicability is restricted due to its time-consuming nature. Objectives: The objective of our study is to create a measure that besides preserving these good psychometric qualities, by means of a reduced number of items, is able to assess the general trait of sensation seeking in a more time effective way. Methods: Short versions of questionnaires measuring the dimension of sensation seeking, and the results of their studies were reviewed. Then psychometric characteristics of the short questionnaire, containing 9 statement-pairs, widely used in Hungarian practice were examined on four independent samples. Results: Analysis of data supports a shorter, 7-item version opposed to the original 9-item questionnaire. The 7-item questionnaire shows high reliability and its positive correlation with various high-risk behaviors indicates good validity of the scale. Conclusions: The 7-item Sensation Seeking Scale – Short Form (SSS-7-HU) is a reliable and valid measure of the sensation seeking personality trait

The impact of intermediate-term alcohol abstinence on memory retrieval and suppression

Background: The nature of episodic memory deficit in intermediate-term abstinence from alcohol in alcohol dependence (AD) is not yet clarified. Deficits in inhibitory control are commonly reported in substance use disorders. However, much less is known about cognitive control suppressing interference from memory. The Think/No-think (TNT) paradigm is a well established method to investigate inhibition of associative memory retrieval.Methods: Thirty-six unmedicated alcohol dependent (AD) patients and 36 healthy controls (HC) performed the TNT task. Thirty image-word pairs were trained up to a predefined accuracy level. Cued recall was examined in three conditions: Think (T) for items instructed to-be-remembered, No-think (NT) assessing the ability to suppress retrieval and Baseline (B) for general relational memory. Premorbid IQ, clinical variables and impulsivity measures were quantified. Results: AD patients had a significantly increased demand for training. Baseline memory abilities and effect of practice on retrieval were not markedly different between the groups. We found a significant main effect of group (HC vs AD) x condition (B, T and NT) and a significant difference in mean NT-B scores for the two groups. Discussion: AD and HC groups did not differ essentially in their baseline memory abilities. Also, the instruction to focus on retrieval improved episodic memory performance in both groups. Crucially, control participants were able to suppress relational words in the NT condition supporting the critical effect of cognitive control processes over inhibition of retrieval. In contrast to this, the ability of AD patients to suppress retrieval was found to be impaired

Seasonality and Delirium Tremens in Hospitalized Patients with Alcohol Dependence Syndrome

Introduction: Due to the high rate of mortality, recognizing the contributing factors of alcohol-related delirium tremens (DT), which is the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal state (AWS) is pivotal in clinical settings. Previous studies suggested relationship between seasonality and other types of delirium; however, to our knowledge, this is the first empirical study which examined the role of seasonality in DT in alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS). Methods: A retrospective study was undertaken between 2008 and 2015; medical records of 1,591 patients were included, which yielded 2,900 hospital appearances. Three groups were formed based on the ICD-10 diagnoses: ADS, AWS, and DT. The characteristics of the groups were analysed with one-way ANOVA and χ2 tests. Multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the potential predictors of DT, including seasonality. Results: The highest incidence of DT was in spring (36.8%; χ2 (3) = 27.666; p 2 (11) = 33.168; p Conclusions: The present study revealed that spring, especially March is a critical period in temperate climate zone regarding DT. This can be interpreted as a late winter effect since the temperature is lower in this month compared to other spring months. Furthermore, higher age and the occurrence of comorbid somatic disorders can be considered as risk factors in case of DT. These results support the need of further clinical studies to better understand the impact of seasonality on DT

Első lépés egy egységes szemlélet felé: az Alkohol Megvonási Skála bevezetése a hazai betegellátási gyakorlatba = The first step towards a unified approach: validation of the Hungarian version of the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised in Hungarian general hospital settings

Absztrakt: Bevezetés és célkitűzés: Alkoholbetegek egészségügyi ellátása során az alkoholfogyasztás csökkentésével vagy annak elhagyásával alkohol okozta megvonási szindróma alakulhat ki. Jelenleg hazánkban nem áll rendelkezésre olyan standardizált mérőeszköz, amellyel az alkoholmegvonás tünetei mérhetők lennének. A nemzetközi szakirodalom, illetve irányelvek a megvonás tüneteinek monitorozására elsődlegesen a Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised mérőeszközt ajánlják, melynek hazai bevezetése hiánypótlónak tekinthető. A jelen vizsgálat célja a Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised hazai változata (Alkohol Megvonási Skála) pszichometriai mutatóinak feltárása, illetve a mérőeszköz alkalmazásának bemutatása. Módszer: A vizsgálat a Szegedi Tudományegyetem Pszichiátriai Klinikájára alkohol okozta megvonási szindróma iránydiagnózissal osztályra felvett páciensek (n = 30) körében történt, utánkövetéses elrendezésben. Kétnaponta, hat alkalommal került felvételre az Alkohol Megvonási Skála, illetve mellette a Klinikai Globális Összbenyomás – Súlyosság Skála. A felvételek során kapott átlagok összehasonlítása ismételt méréses varianciaanalízissel történt. Belső konzisztenciai mutatók (Cronbach-alfa, tétel-totál korreláció), konvergens és divergens validitási mutatók (Alkohol Megvonási Skála, illetve a Klinikai Globális Összbenyomás – Súlyosság Skála közötti Pearson korrelációs elemzés alapján) kerültek kiszámításra. Eredmények: Szignifikáns csökkenés volt megfigyelhető a 6 adatfelvételi időpontban az Alkohol Megvonási Skála (F = 202,46, p<0,001), illetve a Klinikai Globális Összbenyomás – Súlyosság Skála (F = 503,04, p<0,001) pontszámainak esetében. A Cronbach-alfa-értékek az első 3 mérési napon 0,7 felett voltak. Az egy időben felvett Alkohol Megvonási Skála és a Klinikai Globális Összbenyomás – Súlyosság Skála minden esetben 0,45 feletti korrelációt mutatott. Következtetés: Az Alkohol Megvonási Skála megbízható és érvényes mérőeszköz a megvonási tünetek részletes szimptomatológiai vizsgálatára. Így lehetővé teszi a hazai betegellátási gyakorlatban az alkoholmegvonás tüneteinek felismerését és súlyosságának meghatározását. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(30): 1184–1192. | Abstract: Introduction and aim: The available literature and protocols have unequivocally suggested that the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised is a psychometric scale for identifying and following the signs of alcohol withdrawal. However, there has not been any validated tool for the identification of withdrawal symptoms in Hungarian general hospital settings. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity and the reliability of the Hungarian version of this scale among patients hospitalized with alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Method: The translation of the scale into Hungarian was done by ‘back translation’ method, followed by testing the face validity. The empirical phase was performed in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Szeged. Patients admitted with alcohol withdrawal syndrome (n = 30) were recruited from the inpatient units of the clinic. Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised and Clinical Global Impression – Severity Scale were recorded every two days. Statistical comparisons of data were performed with repeated-measures ANOVA. Cronbach’s alpha, item-total correlation, convergent and discriminant validity were determined. Results: Significant decrease of the total scores of Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised and Clinical Global Impression – Severity Scale was observed between the six measurements (F = 202.46, p<0.001; F = 503.04, p<0.001). Cronbach alpha values were above 0.7 during the first 3 measurement days. The withdrawal and severity scores recorded the same day showed positively significant correlations (>0.45). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment of Alcohol, Revised is a reliable and valid psychometric tool for the detailed analysis of withdrawal symptoms in Hungarian general hospital settings. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(30): 1184–1192

Psychometric tests and a complex assessment of the course of alcohol dependence

In order to understand the course of alcohol dependence (AD) more deeply, carefully selected and psychometrically evaluated psychological tests are essential. In recent decades, few psychometric tests have been widely and systematically standardized on Hungarian samples. Nevertheless, this tendency seems to be changing as more and more psychometric data are becoming available. This work in certain aspects relates to this tendency. In the light of different psychological tests, psychometric indices have been presented for direct and indirect indicators of the severity of AD. It has been confirmed on a Hungarian sample that the assessed and applied severity measures are reliable and valid. On the other hand, these different symptom severity indicators have been connected to personality factors so as to extend our knowledge on patients with more severe forms of addiction. It was revealed that novelty-seeking (NS) is the strongest correlate of the severity of the clinical symptomatology of AD, and this personality factor is the most powerful determinant of a severe AD. Self directedness (SD) as a personality factor is a robust determinant of an existing AD and the ability to sustain abstinence. For a better understanding of long term abstinence an integrative approach was applied by combining neurocognitive and personality measures. A decisionmaking deficit was detectable even after long-term alcohol abstinence and it is concluded that a more adaptive personality profile can contribute to the compensation of this trait-like neurocognitive deficit in sustained sobriety. A comparison of different alcohol treatment settings revealed that, in the context of 12-step-based interventions, an enhancement of spiritual orientation could be a favourable treatment aim for patients with AD, since spirituality serves as a mediating factor within the treatment, and as such, decreases state anxiety