Attentional bias in non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers, and abstinent pathological gamblers: an experimental study

Background Attentional biases have been recognized as factors responsible for the maintenance of gambling problems. To date, no study has ever assessed the attentional biases among problem gamblers that have discontinued gambling (e.g., abstinent gamblers in treatment). Methods The sample consisted of 75 participants comprising three groups: non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers, and abstinent pathological gamblers undergoing treatment. The groups were discriminated using South Oaks Gambling Screen scores, with the exception of the abstinent pathological gamblers that already had a DSM-5 diagnosis for gambling disorder. Participants carried out a modified Posner Task for the assessment of attentional bias for gambling stimuli and completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Gambling Craving Scale. Results Abstinent pathological gamblers showed an avoidance bias in the maintenance of attention, whereas problem gamblers exhibited a facilitation in detecting gambling stimuli. No biases were detected in non-problem gamblers. The results also demonstrated that compared to the other groups, abstinent pathological gamblers showed high emotional stress and problem gamblers reported a higher level of craving. Limitations The sample size limits the generalizability of results. Conclusions The present study demonstrated that attentional biases affect the maintenance and the discontinuation of gambling activities, and that the subjective feeling of craving for gambling may facilitate problem gamblers’ attention towards gambling stimuli

Disordered gambling and attentional bias: the mediating role of risk-taking

Background: Previous research has emphasized the importance of attentional bias in the maintenance of both adult and adolescent disordered gambling. There is a substantial body of empirical evidence demonstrating facilitated attention and difficulty in disengagement from gambling stimuli among disordered gamblers, but no study has ever experimentally investigated the association between attentional bias and risk-taking behavior in gambling. The aim of the present study was to examine the interrelationship between attentional bias for gambling stimuli, risk-taking attitude, and severity of gambling involvement. Methods: The present study recruited 70 male adults from gambling venues to participate in the experiment. Gambling severity, attentional bias, and risk-taking were assessed utilizing the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Modified Posner Task, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task, respectively. Results: Disordered gamblers showed greater readiness to detect gambling stimuli and took more risks than non-disordered gamblers. Regression analysis showed that being of a young age, automatic facilitated attention for gambling cues, and risk-proneness significantly predicted problem gambling. Additionally, a path analysis was performed to test if automatic facilitated attention towards gambling was on the path from risk-taking to gambling severity, or if risk-taking mediated the impact of facilitation biases on gambling severity. The results indicated that attentional bias predicted gambling severity both directly and indirectly via risk-taking. Limitations: The modest sample size and the absence of female gamblers limited the generalizability of the results. Conclusions: The present findings are compatible with the view that an automatic detection of gambling stimuli is responsible for greater riskiness that, in turn, fosters gambling problems

An experimental investigation of the role of delay discounting and craving in gambling chasing behavior

Chasing is a central feature of gambling disorder and refers to the attempt by individuals to recover financial losses by continuing to gamble. Although several efforts have been made to individuate the factors involved in the complex phenomenon of chasing, little is known regarding its association with delay discounting and craving, both considered important in the development and maintenance of gambling disorder. In the present study, the interplay between chasing, delay discounting, and craving (while controlling for gambling severity) was investigated. The sample comprised 128 adult gamblers aged between 18 and 67 years and consisted of non-problem gamblers (n = 58), problem gamblers (n = 18), and pathological gamblers (n = 52) based on the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) scores. Participants were administered the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) and the Gambling Craving Scale (GACS), as well as completing the ChasIT, a computerized task assessing chasing behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to the control and the loss condition of the ChasIT. Results showed that pathological gamblers were more likely to chase and reported more severe chasing persistence. Regression analyses indicated that heightened levels of craving and the inability to tolerate delay in gratification, along with gambling severity, predicted both the decision to chase and chasing persistence. The present study contributes important findings to the gambling literature, highlighting the role of craving and delay discounting in facilitating the inability to stop within-sessions gambling. These findings may provide evidence that chasers and non-chasers represent two different types of gamblers, and that the difference may be useful for targeting more effective therapies

Facilitated attention for gambling cues in adolescent problem gamblers: an experimental study

Studies investigating attentional biases in gambling have observed that problem gamblers’ attention is biased toward gambling cues. Despite the increase of gambling among adolescents, to date, no study has ever examined the role of attentional bias in adolescent gambling, as well as the relationships between adolescent gambling severity, craving, and alcohol use. Methods The present study comprised 87 adolescent participants. Based on South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA) scores, participants were assigned to non-problem or problem gamblers groups. Participants performed a modified Posner Task (with cue presentation times at 100 and 500 ms) to assess attentional biases. Following the experiment, participants completed the Gambling Craving Scale (GACS) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results Compared to non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers displayed facilitation bias for gambling cues at 500 ms and reported higher levels of craving and alcohol consumption. Results also indicated that alcohol use correlated with facilitation bias. Limitations The recruitment of a predominantly male sample and the use of an indirect measure of attentional bias may have affected the findings concerning attentional processes. Conclusions The present study provides the first empirical evidence of attentional processes in adolescent gambling, and confirms the role of attentional biases, craving, and alcohol use being associated factors in adolescent problem gambling. The results of the present study stress the importance of attentional biases in the initial stages of problem gambling and suggest the need for clinical interventions aimed at reducing attentional bias before they became automatic. Overall, the present study stressed the role of attentional bias as both facilitator and a consequence of gambling involvement

The associations between loneliness, anxiety, and problematic gaming behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: the mediating role of mentalization

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted mental health, contributing to increase the feeling of loneliness, the psychological distress, and the gaming involvement. Despite accumulating data in the field of gaming, the research examining the psychological determinants of gaming severity, especially in the unique circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic, is still in its infancy. The aim of the present study was to examine, for the first time, the role of mentalization in gaming and to clarify the pattern of associations between loneliness, psychological distress, and problematic gaming behavior, as well as the mediating role of mentalizing in this relationship during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Methods: A total of 466 adults aged 18-29 years completed an online survey including the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form, the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Results: Regression analysis showed that male gender, anxiety, hypermentalizing, and loneliness were good predictors of problematic gaming behavior. The path analysis indicated that gender predicted gaming directly, whereas anxiety and loneliness contributed to gaming both directly and indirectly via hypermentalizing. Conclusions: The present study is the first to examine the role of mentalizing in gaming during COVID-19 pandemic and provide insight into the interrelationships between mentalization, psychological distress, perceived loneliness, and problematic gaming behavior, demonstrating that an inaccurate mentalization has a key role in contributing to problematic gaming. The study provides a useful contribution for prevention of gaming severity and indicates that specific intervention on mentalizing could be effective in reducing problematic gaming by reducing levels of both anxiety and perceived loneliness

Charge Redistribution Mechanisms in SnSe2Surfaces Exposed to Oxidative and Humid Environments and Their Related Influence on Chemical Sensing

Tin diselenide (SnSe2) is a van der Waals semiconductor, which spontaneously forms a subnanometric SnO2 skin once exposed to air. Here, by means of surface-science spectroscopies and density functional theory, we have investigated the charge redistribution at the SnO2-SnSe2 heterojunction in both oxidative and humid environments. Explicitly, we find that the work function of the pristine SnSe2 surface increases by 0.23 and 0.40 eV upon exposure to O2 and air, respectively, with a charge transfer reaching 0.56 e-/SnO2 between the underlying SnSe2 and the SnO2 skin. Remarkably, both pristine SnSe2 and defective SnSe2 display chemical inertness toward water, in contrast to other metal chalcogenides. Conversely, the SnO2-SnSe2 interface formed upon surface oxidation is highly reactive toward water, with subsequent implications for SnSe2-based devices working in ambient humidity, including chemical sensors. Our findings also imply that recent reports on humidity sensing with SnSe2 should be reinterpreted, considering the pivotal role of the oxide skin in the interaction with water molecules. ©PID2019-109525RB-I00; Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020: 730872; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, MINECO: CEX2018-000805-M, E12H1800010001; Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, MIUR; Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: FEUZ-2020-0060This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Project PID2019-109525RB-I00. D.F. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, through the “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence in R&D (CEX2018-000805-M). D.F. and A.A.T. acknowledge the project CALIPSOplus under Grant Agreement 730872 from the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020. A.P. and G.D. acknowledge the CERIC–ERIC Consortium for the access to the Nanospectroscopy facility and financial support. G.D. acknowledges funding of a Ph.D. fellowship from PON Ricerca e Innovazione 2014–2020 (Project E12H1800010001) by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). D.W.B. acknowledges the support by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (through the basic part of the government mandate, Project No. FEUZ-2020-0060)

The role of visual perceptual style and personality disorder traits in event-based prospective memory

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of global/local processing style, field-(in)dependence, and personality disorder traits in event-based prospective memory performance. One hundred and fifty participants took part in an experiment, where they were administered a computerized version of Navon’s global–local task. The PM task required participants to press a designated key whenever a blue compound stimulus was presented. Participants were then administered measures of field-(in)dependence and personality disorder traits. Data were submitted to logistic regression and hierarchical regression, separately for the two conditions (global/local). Results indicated that with respect to condition, global/local processing style, field-(in)dependence, and specific personality disorder traits differently affect PM performance

Is TIB - Test Breve d'Intelligenza - a good measure of IQ's?

he Test d’Intelligenza Breve (TIB) is an Italian test modelled on the well-known NART test. The aim of the study was to investigate whether performances on TIB, correlate with general intellectual skills in Italian participants. A large group (N = 840) of healthy young adults was given the TIB and the Italian full scale version of the WAIS-R. Analyses focused on the comparison between TIB and each of the subtests of the WAIS-R in classifying the predicted and the actual IQ. Over- all, results showed that TIB moderately predicts Verbal IQ and Full Scale IQ but it dramatically fails in the case of the Per- formance IQ. Therefore, the results undermine the usefulness of TIB in estimating IQ. Results also brought up arguments on the use of the short test in the assessment of IQ in traumatic brain injury patients