Obsessive-Compulsive Aspects and Pathological Gambling in an Italian Sample

INTRODUCTION: Gambling behaviour appears as repetitive and difficult to resist and seems to be aimed at neutralizing or reducing negative feelings such as anxiety and tension, confirming its similarities with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Aims. Estimating the prevalence of gambling behaviour in an Italian sample and assessing the effects of sociodemographic variables and the correlations between gambling behaviour and obsessive-compulsive features. METHODS: A sample of 300 Italian subjects was evaluated based on gambling behaviours and obsessive-compulsive attitudes. The assessment was carried out in small centers in Italy, mainly in coffee and tobacco shops, where slot machines are located, using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and the MOCQ-R, a reduced form of Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Questionnaire. RESULTS: A negative correlation between SOGS and MOPQ-R, with reference to the control and cleaning subscales, was evidenced in the majority of the examined subjects. Both evaluating instruments showed reliability and a good discriminative capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study evidenced that the sample of gamblers we analysed did not belong to the obsessive-compulsive disorders area, supporting the validity of the model proposed by DSM-5 for the classification of PG. These data confirm the importance of investing in treatments similar to those used for substance use disorders

Attention-Déficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Psychological Comorbidity in Eating Disorder Patients.

International audience[No abstract

Obsessive-compulsive aspects and pathological gambling in an Italian sample

Gambling behaviour appears as repetitive and difficult to resist and seems to be aimed at neutralizing or reducing negative feelings such as anxiety and tension, confirming its similarities with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Aims. Estimating the prevalence of gambling behaviour in an Italian sample and assessing the effects of sociodemographic variables and the correlations between gambling behaviour and obsessive-compulsive features

Party hard: Drug-related fatalities in Ibiza from 2010 to 2016

IntroductionIllicit drug use is well known as an important contributor to the global burden of diseases, but the physical and psychopathological risks of recreational drugs misuse are often underestimated and drug-related fatalities in specific settings are under-investigated.Objectives and methodsIn the framework of the EU-funded project “EU-Madness”, we collected and analysed all the reports of drug-related fatalities in Ibiza from January 2010 to September 2016, with the aim of characterising the sample, and identifying the involved substances and the nature of deaths associated with their consumption.ResultsOverall, 58 drug-related fatalities were registered from 2010 to September 2016 (87.9% males, 12.1% females, mean age 33.16; females were significantly younger than males). Most of the deceased were Britons (36.2%), followed by Spanish (22.4%), Italians (6.9%) and Germans (5.2%). In half the cases, the substance identified in post-mortem analyses was a stimulant; in 24.1% of the sample it was a depressor a prescription drug or more than two substances in 22.4%. Most of the fatalities were due to cardiovascular accidents (62%); 22.4% were deaths by drowning, 12% by fall from heights and 3.4% were due to mechanical asphyxia.ConclusionsAccording to the results from our sample, stimulants (mainly MDMA and cocaine) are the substances of abuse involved in most drug-caused fatalities. The number of fatalities per year has been steadily increasing, but the growing diffusion of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) does not seem to be a direct cause (although better methods of their analysis in post-mortem samples should be designed).Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.</jats:sec

Pacific Islands Ichthyoarchaeology: Implications for the Development of Prehistoric Fishing Studies and Global Sustainability

The Pacific Islands—consisting of culturally diverse Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—is the ideal region to investigate the development of prehistoric fishing studies, as nowhere else on Earth is there such environmental contrasts among island types and their marine environments. We review the ichthyoarchaeological literature for the Pacific and assess developments in recovery methods, reference collections, taxonomic identifications, quantification, taphonomy and site-formation processes, ethnoarchaeology, approaches to diet and subsistence reconstructions, sustainability, and the importance of applied zooarchaeology for fisheries management and conservation. Ichthyoarchaeologists are beginning to work more closely with resource managers, fisheries biologists, policy makers, and indigenous communities to produce holistic studies of conservation management, resource sustainability, and assessments of human impacts on marine ecosystems over centuries to millennial time scales