PROBLEM AND PATHOLOGICAL GAMBLING: A CONCEPTUAL REVIEW

This report provides a conceptual summary and critique of problem and pathological gambling and how these terms are used in policy, research and clinical practice. It summarises the varying disciplinary approaches to understanding gambling-related disorders; the distinction drawn between harm and behavioural indicators; issues in measurement; and, the significance of longitudinal evidence relating to the stability of gambling-related problems. ‘Pathological gambling’ is identified as the principal term used in psychiatric (e.g., DSM-IV) or medical literature and one which is defined largely in terms of the mechanisms which are central to substance use disorders (cravings, tolerance and withdrawal). By contrast, ‘problem gambling’ appears to have to two common usages. In one usage, problem gambling refers to a less severe form of the disorder; in another, it refers to a public health conceptualisation that defines the disorder largely in terms of its harmful consequences. Commonly used psychometric measures of the disorder vary in relation to which of these conceptualisations is captured, but most include items relating to both behavioural indicators of pathology as well as harmful impacts. Longitudinal evidence suggests that reported problem gambling symptoms are often not stable over time. Individuals commonly shift between categories and this suggests that gambling-related disorders are unlikely (at least in some individuals) to be solely determined by underlying neurophysiological and dispositional factors that are immutable over time. The report supports the view that the causes of problem and pathological gambling are likely to be multi-faceted and require multi-disciplinary approaches to understand the factors responsible for the development of the disorder as well as its maintenance

Prevention paradox logic and problem gambling: Does low-risk gambling impose a greater burden of harm than high-risk gambling?

The aim of this paper is to examine the evidence and arguments in favor of prevention paradox (PP) logic in the context of problem gambling. Evidence from recent studies of gambling and the distribution of harm across lower and higher risk gamblers is reviewed to examine the contention that the absolute burden of harm is greater in low-risk (LR) gamblers than the problem gamblers. Methods The review examines a number of methodological and conceptual concerns about existing evidence in support of the PP. Results The principal problems identified include the misclassification of LR gamblers; the use of binary scoring method that understates the frequency of harms in high-risk populations; a tendency to confuse behavior and harm; and the use of potentially overly inclusive definitions of harm with low thresholds of severity. Discussion and conclusions This paper makes a number of recommendations for enhancement of this area of research, including the use of clear definitions of harm and LR behavior and a greater focus on harm with material impacts on people’s quality of life

Adolescent Gambling in the ACT

This report presents key findings of a 2003-2004 study into adolescent gambling in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The study is based on a survey of years 7 to 12 students from Government, Catholic, and Independent schools. The aim of this research project was to increase existing knowledge concerning the nature and extent of gambling amongst a population subgroup that was generally omitted by the Federal Productivity Commission in their 1999 report. Although previous studies of young people have been conducted in Victoria and South Australia that reveal higher prevalence of problem gambling than adults, no such work has ever been undertaken in the ACT. Our research therefore contributes to this scant Australian literature on adolescent gambling by providing further data concerning its measurement, causes and prevalence. In addition, this study provides regulatory and educational authorities in the ACT with a much-needed overview and the material basis for the development of evidence-based prevention and counselling programs, and education strategies. The research also assists in the development and validation of a consistent methodology to allow future replications, as well as providing baseline statistics against which future developments in adolescent gambling can be compared

The emergence and development of specialist courts : lessons for juvenile justice from the history of the children’s court in South Australia?

To illustrate how specialist courts have developed to manage juvenile offenders, this paper provides an overview of the history and development of the youth court in one jurisdiction, South Australia. Drawing on interviews conducted with judicial officers, the paper seeks to highlight some of the changes that have taken place since the Court&rsquo;s inception, as well as how the Court currently understands its role and positioning within the broader justice and welfare systems. Key discussion points of these interviews included the Youth Court&rsquo;s guiding principles and how they impact on court procedures and responses to young people in the system, as well as the challenges that limit, or create difficulties for, the effective operation of the Youth Court. It is concluded that the Youth Court system attempts to balance both welfare and justice approaches to dealing with young people, but are sometimes hindered by inadequate procedural, structural and resource-related factors &ndash; some of which exist externally to the Youth Court itself.<br /

The longitudinal mental health benefits of a yoga intervention in women experiencing chronic stress: A clinical trial

© 2016 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.Background and Objectives: Chronic stress contributes to psychopathology and the practise of yoga is suggested to decrease stress and improve well-being. However, the literature often reports methodological problems (cross-sectional designs, sample sizes ≤ 20, and limited exploration of community populations). The aim of this study was to address these limitations and evaluate the potential psychological benefits of yoga to a non-clinical population. Methods: Women (N = 116) reporting chronic stress participated in this longitudinal study. Participants were allocated to a twice-weekly, hour-long yoga class for a period of two months, or a waitlist-control. Indicators of psychological well-being were measured at baseline, post-test and one-month follow-up. Results: Psychological distress decreased over time in both groups, however the control group experienced decreases in positive effect compared with the yoga group. Curvilinear trends were observed, indicating that trajectories of improvement seen at post-test were not robustly seen at follow-up. Conclusion: The study indicates that short-term yoga practise may yield some benefits to stressed individuals, but that evaluation over a longer term of practise may be required to determine the optimal dose for improvements and maintenance. Differential treatment effects may be difficult to detect in studies with populations that may already be motivated to improve their health

Red box, green box: A self-report behavioral frequency measurement approach for behavioral addictions research

Behavior frequency measures in behavioral addictions research fail to account for how engagement in the activity relates to each respondent's personal circumstances. We propose a “Red Box, Green Box” method, an alternative to conventional self-report behavior questions. Participants report two distinct time-based values: (1) Green box: time spent engaged in the activity during ‘free’ time, and (2) Red box: engagement in the activity at times when the respondent should be doing something else (e.g., studying, working, sleeping, exercising, etc.). Some practical examples of the ‘red box, green box’ method are provided. This method may help to calibrate behavioral frequency for each respondent and yield clearer insights into displacement effects and risks associated with frequency of use. We suggest some future research directions to test the feasibility and utility of this approach in different implementations

Young people under youth justice supervision with varying child protection histories: An analysis of group differences

There is now convincing evidence that childhood maltreatment is associated with youth offending; however, relatively little is known about the characteristics and needs of those who are involved in both the child protection and youth justice systems, and the extent to which these might differ according to level of child protection involvement. This study reports the characteristics and needs of 2,045 young people who were under supervision in secure custody or detention in South Australia between 1995 and 2012 according to the level of exposure to the child protection system in an Australian jurisdiction. Five groups of young offenders were compared: (a) no known child protection notifications or substantiated experience of abuse and/or neglect, (b) notifications only, (c) substantiated notifications, (d) notifications or substantiations and subsequent placement in out-of-home care (OHC), and (e) placement in OHC only. The results indicate that young people who have a history of child protection system involvement have significantly greater and more complex needs than those who have no child protection experience. It is concluded that different service responses may be required to meet the diverse needs of these groups of young people under youth justice supervision

Preliminary indications of the effect of a brief yoga intervention on markers of inflammation and DNA methylation in chronically stressed women

© The Author(s) 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if thematerial is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material.Yoga is associated with reduced stress and increased well-being, although the molecular basis for these benefits is not clear. Mounting evidence implicates the immune response, with current studies focused on protein immune markers (such as cytokines) in clinical populations. To explore the molecular impact, this pilot study uses a subsample (n = 28) from a randomised waitlist control trial Investigating the impact of an 8-week yoga intervention in a community population of women reporting psychological distress (N = 116). We measured interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and C-reactive protein (CRP) protein levels, and the DNA methylation of these genes and the global indicator, LINE-1. Correlations between these and psychological variables were explored, identifying moderate correlations with CRP protein levels, and methylation of IL-6, CRP and LINE-1. Many cytokine samples were below detection, however a Mann–Whitney U demonstrated a trend of moderate between-group effect for elevated IL-6 in the yoga group. Methylation analyses applied cross-sectional and non-controlled longitudinal analyses. Waist-to-height ratio and age were covaried. We demonstrated reduced methylation of the TNF region in the yoga group relative to the waitlist control group. No other genes demonstrated a significant difference. Longitudinal analysis further supported these results. This study is one of the first to explore yoga and immunological markers in a non-clinical population, and is the first study to explore DNA methylation. These findings indicate that further research into molecular impact of yoga on markers of immune function is warranted, with larger studies required

Face validity evaluation of screening tools for gaming disorder: Scope, language, and overpathologizing issues

Aim: Critics of gaming disorder (GD; i.e., Internet gaming disorder in the DSM-5; Gaming disorder in the ICD-11) have expressed concerns about the potential risks of misclassification (e.g., false positives). An important consideration of relevance to this discussion is the extent to which commonly used screening instruments contain appropriate, sensible, and relevant items. The aim of this review was to evaluate the face validity of items within current tools for GD. Methods: A systematic review of databases identified 29 instruments. An item bank (n5417 items) was independently evaluated by three professional raters (i.e., a senior academic in clinical psychology, a senior psychometrician, and an academic/clinical psychologist) according to guidelines for defining and measuring addiction and gaming disorder. Findings: Evaluation of the item bank identified issues related to: scope (i.e., “scope creep” or items of questionable relevance); language (i.e., confusing language, unusual wording or syntax); and overpathologizing (i.e., pathologizing typical and/or beneficial aspects or consequences of gaming). A total of 71 items across 23 tools had at least one face validity issue. Conclusions: Most items (83%) demonstrated satisfactory face validity and were consistent with either the DSM-5 or ICD-11 GD classification. However, many tests contain at least one item that may pathologize normal gaming behaviors. Such items refer to basic changes in mood when gaming, a desire to play or continue playing games, and experiencing immersion when gaming. This analysis highlights the challenges of screening for problematic behaviors that are thought to arise within the context of normal recreational activitie