Problematic online sexual activities in men: The role of self‐esteem, loneliness, and social anxiety

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Internet gaming disorder as a formative construct : implications for conceptualization and measurement

Background. Some people have serious problems controlling their internet and video game use. The DSM-5 now includes a proposal for ‘Internet Gaming Disorder’ as a condition in need of further study. Various studies aim to validate the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder and multiple new scales have been introduced that cover the suggested criteria. Approach. Using a structured approach, we demonstrate that Internet Gaming Disorder might be better interpreted as a formative construct, as opposed to the current practice of conceptualizing it as a reflective construct. Incorrectly approaching a formative construct as a reflective one causes serious problems in scale development including (a) incorrect reliance on item-to-total scale correlation to exclude items and incorrectly relying on indices of inter-item reliability that do not fit the measurement model (e.g., Cronbach’s α) (b) incorrect interpretation of composite or mean scores that assume all items are equal in contributing value to a sum score, and (c) biased estimation of model parameters in statistical models. Implications. We show that these issues are impacting current validation efforts through two recent examples. A reinterpretation of Internet Gaming Disorder as a formative construct has broad consequences for current validation efforts and provides opportunities to reanalyze existing data. We discuss three broad implications for current research: (1) Composite latent constructs should be defined and used in models, (2) Item exclusion and selection should not rely on item-to-total scale correlations, and (3) Existing definitions of Internet Gaming Disorder should be enriched further

Commentary on Karhulahti et al. (2022): addressing ontological diversity in gaming disorder measurement from an item-based psychometric perspective

The present commentary aims to extend the work conducted by Karhulahti et al. (2022), and more specifically to follow one of the research directions that they suggested but did not preregister, that is, to capitalize on network analysis (an item-based psychometric approach) to reinforce or – in contrast – to nuance the view that the four gaming disorder measurement tools that they scrutinized actually assess ontologically distinct constructs. Thanks to the open science approach endorsed by Karhulahti and colleagues, we were able to perform network analysis that encompassed all items from the four gaming disorder assessment tools used by the authors. Because of the very high density of connections among all available items, the analysis conducted suggests that these instruments are not reliably distinct and that their content strongly overlaps, therefore measuring substantially homogeneous constructs after all. Although not aligned with the main conclusions made by Karhulahti and colleagues, the current exploratory results make sense theoretically and require further elaboration of what is meant by ‘ontological diversity’ in the context of gaming disorder assessment and diagnosis

Commentary on Englund et al.: The advantages and downsides of online focus groups for conducting research on addictive online behaviours.

As the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic prompted new ways of doing research, Englund et al. [1] highlight the benefits and challenges that online experiments bring to the scientific investigation of addictive behaviours. Likewise, this commentary further reflects on how online focus groups may constitute particularly sound opportunities for studying addictive online behaviour

Clarifying the Role of Negative Emotions in the Origin and Control of Impulsive Actions

This critical review elaborates on the origin of impulsive actions and how these can be controlled. We focus in particular on the role of negative events. First, we outline how impulsive actions often originate from negative events that are (emotionally) appraised. A discrepancy between this current state and a desired goal state leads to action tendencies. The urgency of the resulting action depends on the importance of the goal and the size of the discrepancy. Second, we discuss how such impulsive actions can be regulated or controlled e.g. by biasing competition between different options, or by completely suppressing all motor output. Importantly, such control mechanisms might also depend on emotional factors. To reconcile these findings, we present a coherent theoretical framework, taking into account various cognitive, affective, and motivational mechanisms as well as contextual factors that play a crucial role in the origin and control of impulsive actions

A theory‐driven design framework for smartphone applications to support healthy and sustainable grocery shopping

Modeling behavior has been a core topic of Psychology and the Social Sciences since their respective inception as academic disciplines. This has resulted in a fractured landscape of different theories, all addressing different aspects of behavior. At the same time the need to formalize the design of computer and smartphone applications has spawned the field of User Experience (UX). With the convergence of everyday behavior and the use of mobile devices the overlap between these two fields becomes ever more important. In this paper we present a comprehensive model of behavior, integrating five well-established theories, with the aim of creating a design framework for smartphone applications that foster motivation and promote the execution of a target behavior. The operationalization of the approach is demonstrated by showing how to design and implement a prototypical application to support healthy and sustainable grocery shopping behavior. While the framework proposed is not limited to this application, it is used to exemplify the relation with previous design approaches, and the concrete implications of the model-derived framework on its implementation. Our view is that both areas of research can benefit from each other: findings from behavioral theory can inform application design, while at the same time the ubiquitous integration of mobile applications allows to dynamically apply, operationalize, and implement behavioral models into everyday life

Healthy and Sustainable Food Shopping: A Survey of Intentions and Motivations

Objectives: To determine the relationship between sustainable and healthy food shopping behavior comparing general motivation with the immediate intention to act. Method: We conducted an online survey of 144 staff at the Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, using a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Self-Determination Theory to compute the Behavioral Intention score and the Relative Autonomy Index in relation to healthy and sustainable grocery shopping. Results: The intention to shop healthy food was higher (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.56) than the intention to shop in a sustainable way. A significant intention-action gap was observed for both healthy (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.97) and sustainable grocery shopping (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.78). While there was a significant correlation (p < 0.001) between the longer-term motivations to act in a healthy and sustainable way, this association was not significant (p = 0.16) for the more short-term Behavioral Intention scores. Conclusion and Implications: Health was identified as a more important driver for dietary behavior compared to sustainability. While longer-term motivation shows a stronger correlation between healthy and sustainable grocery shopping, short-term intentions do not follow this pattern as strongly. A significant intention-action gap exists for both, which is stronger for sustainability than for health

Efficacy of metacognitive therapy in improving mental health: A meta-analysis of single-case studies.

Context. Metacognitive therapy and one of its treatment components, the attention training technique are increasingly being delivered to improve mental health. Objective. To examine the efficacy of metacognitive therapy and/or attention training technique on mental health outcomes from single-case studies. Methods. Fourteen studies (53 patients) were included. The d-statistic for multiple baseline data and the percentage change index were used to compute the effect sizes. Results. Metacognitive therapy has a large effect on depression, anxiety, other psychopathological symptoms, and all outcomes together. Effect sizes were significantly moderated by the number of sessions, the severity and duration of symptoms, and patient gender, but not by study quality or attention training technique when used as a stand-alone treatment. At the follow-up, 77.36% of the individuals were considered recovered or had maintained improvement. Conclusion. Metacognitive therapy and attention training technique strongly contribute to improving mental health outcomes. This study effectively informs evidence-based practice in the clinical milieu

Introduction to the Special Issue “20 years of the Pathways Model: understanding disordered gambling and other behavioural addictions”

The Pathways Model of problem gambling has become a highly influential framework in the field of gambling studies. This special issue commemorates 20 years since the publication of the original paper, highlighting the sustained impact of the Pathways Model across the broader and emergent field of behavioral addictions. As a framework, the Pathways Model set out two distinct objectives: first, to synthesize an array of risk factors and psychological processes that have been implicated in the etiology of gambling problems, and second, to characterize heterogeneity among people with gambling problems. As the articles included in this collection confirm, the three subtypes proposed by Blaszczynski & Nower continue to be an especially powerful stimulus for research

Assessing problematic use of social media: where do we stand and what can be improved?

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, to view a copy of the license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/The increased popularity of social media has brought clinicians and researchers to question the potential problematic outcomes of such Internet-based applications. Over the past two decades, an increasing number of studies identified the so-called problematic use of social media (PUSM), which led to the development of various assessment tools requiring constant revisions because of the ever-evolving nature of the Internet. This review summarizes the most frequently used measurement tools in PUSM research while suggesting best practices and directions for future research based on the most recent evidence in the field.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio