Lack of educational impact of video game addiction in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD: A cross-sectional study

IntroductionThe use of video games has become widespread worldwide. Excessive use of video games is increasingly becoming a matter of concern, particularly in patients diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Currently, internet gaming disorder (IGD) is not included within the DSM-5-chapter Disorders related to substances and addictive disorders.MethodsThis is a post-hoc descriptive naturalistic study comparing children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD with and without IGD. We used the 85% cut-off point of the test ADITEC-V for video game addiction to split our sample of ADHD patients into those with IGD (>=85%) and those without IGD (<85%).Results13 (25%) out of the 51 children and adolescents with ADHD included in our study had an IGD. Patients with IGD had a first contact with internet, smartphones, and videogames at a very early age (5.67 ± 3.31, 6.33 ± 4.60, and 7.50 ± 2.61, respectively). However, only age at first contact with the internet was statistically significantly different when comparing ADHD patients with and without IGD (8.68 ± 2.71 vs. 5.67 ± 3.31, t = 3.166, df = 47, p = 0.01). Different neurodevelopmental, clinical, and neuropsychological measures converging in impulsivity is a risk factor for IGD. Unexpectedly, we found no association between IGD and poor academic achievement.DiscussionFuture studies may include randomized controlled trials for treating IGD, the study of social adjustment as a protective factor against developing an IGD, and the role of serious and non-serious video games in the development of an IGD, among others. Additional research is clearly needed on IGD

The time course of visual foraging in the lifespan: Spatial scanning, organization search, and target processing

Visual foraging is a variant of visual search, consisting of searching for an undetermined number of targets among distractors (e.g., looking for various LEGO pieces in a box). Under non-exhaustive tasks, the observer scans the display, picking those targets needed, not necessarily all of them, before leaving the search. To understand how the organization of such natural foraging tasks works, several measures of spatial scanning and organization have been proposed in the exhaustive foraging literature: best-r, intertarget distances, PAO, and target intersections. In the present study, we apply these measures and new Bayesian indexes to determine how the time course of visual foraging is organized in a dynamic non-exhaustive paradigm. In a large sample of observers (279 participants, 4–25 years old), we compare feature and conjunction foraging and explore how factors like set size and time course, not previously tested in exhaustive foraging, might afect search organization in non-exhaustive dynamic tasks. The results replicate previous fndings showing younger observers’ searching being less organized, feature conditions being more organized than conjunction conditions, and organization leading to a more efective search. Interestingly, observers tend to be less organized as set size increases, and search is less organized within a patch as it advances in time: Search organization decreases when search termination is coming, suggesting organization measures as potential clues to understand quitting rules in search. Our results highlight the importance of studying search organization in foraging as a critical source of understanding complex cognitive processes in visual searchOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by the Research Grant Project PSI2015-69358-R (MINECO/FEDER) “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad” (MINECO), and “Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional” (FEDER), given to Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño as PI at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Also, part of the research of this study was done thanks to the Fulbright Commission, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, under Grant FORAGEKID 793268, also granted to Beatriz Gil-Gómez de Liaño at the University of Cambridge, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and BWH-Harvard Medical Schoo

Foraging behavior in visual search: a review of theoretical and mathematical models in humans and animals

Visual search (VS) is a fundamental task in daily life widely studied for over half a century. A variant of the classic paradigm—searching one target among distractors—requires the observer to look for several (undetermined) instances of a target (so-called foraging) or several targets that may appear an undefined number of times (recently named as hybrid foraging). In these searches, besides looking for targets, the observer must decide how much time is needed to exploit the area, and when to quit the search to eventually explore new search options. In fact, visual foraging is a very common search task in the real world, probably involving additional cognitive functions than typical VS. It has been widely studied in natural animal environments, for which several mathematical models have been proposed, and just recently applied to humans: Lévy processes, composite and area-restricted search models, marginal value theorem, and Bayesian learning (among others). We conducted a systematic search in the literature to understand those mathematical models and study its applicability in human visual foraging. The review suggests that these models might be the first step, but they seem to be limited to fully comprehend foraging in visual search. There are essential variables involving human visual foraging still to be established and understood. Indeed, a jointly theoretical interpretation based on the different models reviewed could better account for its understanding. In addition, some other relevant variables, such as certain individual differences or time perception might be crucial to understanding visual foraging in humansThe present work has been supported by the financed research project of the “Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España, Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica”. Ref. PSI2015-69358-

The Protection Motivation Theory as a Predictor of the Use of Protective Behavioral Strategies among Young Adults

Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies (PBS) have shown to be effective in minimizing alcohol-related negative consequences. However, previous studies on the explanatory factors of PBS use are scarce. The Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) is a social cognition theory which attempts to explain intention to use protective behaviors in respond to health threats such as alcohol-related negative consequences. According to PMT, the likelihood of engaging in protective behaviors when facing a threat is a product of two processes: threat appraisal (perceived severity and perceived vulnerability to the threat) and coping appraisal (response efficacy and perceived self-efficacy for using a protective behavior). We examined the predictive utility of the PMT on the intention to use PBS related to the Manner of Drinking (MOD) among a community sample of young adults. Prospective study that recruited 360 young adults aged 18-24 years by targeted sampling procedure (Mage=21.15 [SD=2.23]; female=50.3%). Most baseline participants (94.2%, n=339) completed a 2-months follow-up assessment. Perceived severity and perceived vulnerability to alcohol use, perceived efficacy of MOD strategies to reduce alcohol-related negative consequences, and self-efficacy to engage in MOD strategies were measured at baseline, and intention to use MOD strategies at follow-up. A multiple lineal regression model for predicting intention to use MOD strategies was used. Perceived severity (β=.13, p=.017), response efficacy (β=.270, p<.001), and selfefficacy (β=.240, p<.000) were positively associated with high intention to use MOD protective strategies. In line with previous research, our findings demonstrated that coping-appraisal components of PMT are more explanatory of protective behaviors than threat-appraisal components. These results may be useful to inform interventions aimed at increasing PBS use among young adults.Fil: González Ponce, Bella. Universidad de Huelva; EspañaFil: Carmona Márquez, José. Universidad de Huelva; EspañaFil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Calderón, Fermín. Universidad de Huelva; España17th European Congress of PsychologyLiublianaEslovenialovenian Psychologists’ Associatio

Developing serious video games to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Tutorial guide

Video game-based therapeutic interventions have demonstrated some effectiveness in decreasing the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compared with more traditional strategies within the multimodal treatment of ADHD, video games have certain advantages such as being comfortable, flexible, and cost-efficient. However, establishing the most appropriate type(s) of video games that should be used for this treatment remains a matter of debate, including the commercial existing video games or serious video games that are specifically constructed to target specific disorders. This guide represents a starting point for developing serious video games aimed at treating ADHD. We summarize the key points that need to be addressed to generate an effective and motivating game-based treatment. Following recommendations from the literature to create game-based treatments, we describe the development stages of a serious video game for treating ADHD. Game design should consider the interests of future users; game mechanics should be based on cognitive exercises; and therapeutic mechanisms must include the control of difficulty, engagement, motivation, time constraints, and reinforcement. To elaborate upon this guide, we performed a narrative review focused on the use of video games for the treatment of ADHD, and were inspired by our own experience during the development of the game "The Secret Trail of Moon".This research was partially funded by the Spanish National Project (grant number RTI2018-101857-B-I00), Fundación para la Innovación y la Prospectiva en Salud en España to HBF, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (European Regional Development Fund IDI-20180701, file 00107278) to MMM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (AES2021, DTS21/00091) to DDG, Contrato Predoctoral de Formación en Investigación en Salud (i-PFIS contract IFI16/00039) to MRY, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid grant for the requalification of permanent lectures to DDG, and Comunidad de Madrid (PEJD-2019-PRE/SAL-17036 to AS and IND2020/BMD-17544 to MMM

Coping motives for drinking as a mediator between anxiety and depression, and alcohol outcomes in community Spanish young adults

Consistent with the medication hypothesis, drinking to cope with negative affect appears to mediate the relationship between mental health and alcohol-related problems, which has been shown in college students. However, there is a lack of evidence in non-university samples that limits the generalization of results. The present study examines the mediating role of coping motives in the relationship between depression and anxiety and alcohol outcomes (frequency and quantity of alcohol use, binge drinking, and alcohol-related consequences). Prospective design with a baseline assessment and a 2-month follow-up. We recruited 334 young adults in the community (mean = 21.1; SD = 2.21) who completed a questionnaire to measure coping motives for drinking and depression and anxiety (Brief Symptom Inventory) at baseline. Eight mediation models were tested, one for each alcohol outcome (at follow-up) for depression and another four for anxiety. The coping motives for drinking mediated the positive relationships between depression and alcohol outcomes, such that higher levels of depression were associated with higher coping motives, which in turn, were associated with higher alcohol-related outcomes. The same results were found for anxiety, except for the relationship between anxiety and binge drinking, which was not mediated by coping motives. Our findings are consistent with the medication hypothesis that "drinking to cope with negative affect" is a critical mediator of associations between mental health and alcohol-related problems in young adults in the community. Training in healthy coping strategies against negative affect should be useful for interventions aimed at reducing alcohol use and their harms.Fil: González Ponce, Bella. Universidad de Huelva; EspañaFil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pilatti, Angelina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Parrado González, Alberto. Universidad de Huelva; EspañaFil: Dacosta Sánchez, Daniel. Universidad de Huelva. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Departamento de Psicología Clínica, Experimental y Sociale.; EspañaFil: Fernández Calderón, Fermín. Universidad de Huelva. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Departamento de Psicología Clínica, Experimental y Sociale.; EspañaII Virtual Meeting of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on AlcoholismCórdobaArgentinaLatin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholis

Perceived vulnerability and intention of use protective behavioral strategies among Spanish young adults: The mediating role of drinking motives

Perceived vulnerability to alcohol consequences, a central factor in Protection Motivation Theory can motivate people to adopt health-protective behavior. However, systematic review showed that perceived vulnerability is a poor predictor of intention and behavior. From a motivational perspective on alcohol use, perceived vulnerability can be affected by reasons people have drinking. For example, previous studies showed that drinking motives predict perceived vulnerability, and drinking motives are associated with high protective behavioral strategies (PBS) use. Thus, drinking motives would explain the relationship between perceived vulnerability and intention to use PBS. The present study examines if drinking motives (social, enhancement, coping, and conformity) mediate the relationship between perceived vulnerability and intention to use PBS. Prospective design with a baseline assessment and a 2-month follow-up. We recruited 328 young adults (age: M = 21.15; SD = 2.23) who completed questionnaires to measure perceived vulnerability to negative consequences when consuming alcohol, and when getting drunk and drinking motives at baseline, and intention to use PBS at follow-up. Mediation analyses showed that higher perceived vulnerability was related to higher positive motives (social and enhancement), which was related to lower intention PBS use. Negative motives for drinking (coping and conformity) did not mediate this relationship. Our findings support the usefulness of correcting self-perceptions risk of alcohol use in interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm in young adults, and drinking positive motives should be included as a component of these interventions.Fil: González Ponce, Bella. Universidad de Huelva. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Departamento de Psicología Clínica, Experimental y Sociale.; EspañaFil: Dacosta Sánchez, Daniel. Universidad de Huelva. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Departamento de Psicología Clínica, Experimental y Sociale.; EspañaFil: Vera, Belén del Valle. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pilatti, Angelina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pautassi, Ricardo Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigación Médica Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra; ArgentinaFil: Parrado González, Alberto. Universidad de Huelva; EspañaFil: Fernández Calderón, Fermín. Universidad de Huelva. Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación. Departamento de Psicología Clínica, Experimental y Sociale.; EspañaII Virtual Meeting of the Latin American Society for Biomedical Research on AlcoholismCórdobaArgentinaLatin American Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholis

Four Dimensions of Journalistic Convergence: A preliminary approach to current media trends at Spain

Convergence is a very polysemous concept that has been used to describe various trends in journalism that have something in common: the blurring of the limits between different media, professional skills and roles. This paper proposes to analytically structure convergence into four dimensions: integrated production, multiskilled professionals, multiplatform delivery and active audience. This analytical grid can help in exploring convergence avoiding deterministic assumptions and allowing to map its development in different media companies as an open process with diverse outcomes. A sample of 58 Spanish cases is studied using the conceptual framework. Multiplatform delivery is the most popular convergence strategy, and in any given dimension developments tend not to radically change established professional routines and values. Integration and multiskilling dimensions seem to be closely related and mainly developed in local and regional media with small staffs. Delivery and audience strategies are more complex in national media

Worldwide comparison of survival from childhood leukaemia for 1995–2009, by subtype, age, and sex (CONCORD-2): a population-based study of individual data for 89 828 children from 198 registries in 53 countries

Background Global inequalities in access to health care are reflected in differences in cancer survival. The CONCORD programme was designed to assess worldwide differences and trends in population-based cancer survival. In this population-based study, we aimed to estimate survival inequalities globally for several subtypes of childhood leukaemia. Methods Cancer registries participating in CONCORD were asked to submit tumour registrations for all children aged 0-14 years who were diagnosed with leukaemia between Jan 1, 1995, and Dec 31, 2009, and followed up until Dec 31, 2009. Haematological malignancies were defined by morphology codes in the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, third revision. We excluded data from registries from which the data were judged to be less reliable, or included only lymphomas, and data from countries in which data for fewer than ten children were available for analysis. We also excluded records because of a missing date of birth, diagnosis, or last known vital status. We estimated 5-year net survival (ie, the probability of surviving at least 5 years after diagnosis, after controlling for deaths from other causes [background mortality]) for children by calendar period of diagnosis (1995-99, 2000-04, and 2005-09), sex, and age at diagnosis (< 1, 1-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years, inclusive) using appropriate life tables. We estimated age-standardised net survival for international comparison of survival trends for precursor-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Findings We analysed data from 89 828 children from 198 registries in 53 countries. During 1995-99, 5-year agestandardised net survival for all lymphoid leukaemias combined ranged from 10.6% (95% CI 3.1-18.2) in the Chinese registries to 86.8% (81.6-92.0) in Austria. International differences in 5-year survival for childhood leukaemia were still large as recently as 2005-09, when age-standardised survival for lymphoid leukaemias ranged from 52.4% (95% CI 42.8-61.9) in Cali, Colombia, to 91.6% (89.5-93.6) in the German registries, and for AML ranged from 33.3% (18.9-47.7) in Bulgaria to 78.2% (72.0-84.3) in German registries. Survival from precursor-cell ALL was very close to that of all lymphoid leukaemias combined, with similar variation. In most countries, survival from AML improved more than survival from ALL between 2000-04 and 2005-09. Survival for each type of leukaemia varied markedly with age: survival was highest for children aged 1-4 and 5-9 years, and lowest for infants (younger than 1 year). There was no systematic difference in survival between boys and girls. Interpretation Global inequalities in survival from childhood leukaemia have narrowed with time but remain very wide for both ALL and AML. These results provide useful information for health policy makers on the effectiveness of health-care systems and for cancer policy makers to reduce inequalities in childhood survival

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic