Attentional biases in problem and non-problem gamblers

Background: From a cognitive perspective, attentional biases are deemed as factors responsible in the onset and development of gambling disorder. However, knowledge relating to attentional processes in gambling is scarce and studies to date have reported contrasting results. Moreover, no study has ever examined which component and what type of bias are involved in attentional polarization in gambling. Methods: In the present study, 108 Italian participants, equally divided into problem and non-problem gamblers were administered a modified Posner Task, an attentional paradigm in which – through the manipulation of stimuli presentation time – it is possible to measure both initial orienting and maintenance of attention. In addition to the experimental task, participants completed self-report measures involving (i) craving (Gambling Craving Scale), (ii) depression, anxiety and stress (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) and (iii) emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale). Results: Analyses revealed facilitation in detecting gambling-related stimuli at the encoding level in problem gamblers but not in non-problem gamblers. Compared to non-problem gamblers, problem gamblers also reported higher levels of craving, emotional dysregulation, and negative mood states. Furthermore, all measures correlated with the gambling severity. Limitations: The use of indirect measure of attentional bias could be less accurate compared to direct measures. Conclusions: The facilitation in detecting gambling-related stimuli in problem gamblers and the correlation between subjective craving and facilitation bias suggests that attentional polarization could not be due to a conditioning process but that motivational factors such as craving could induce addicted-related seeking-behaviors

Mentalizing failures, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive distortions among adolescent problem gamblers

Over the past decade, several studies have investigated the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotion regulation among adolescent gamblers, demonstrating the exacerbating role of alcohol consumption when co-occurring with gambling problems. An important construct, that to date has been largely neglected, is mentalizing (i.e. the ability to refect on one’s own and others’ mental states). The aim of the present study was (for the frst time) to investigate the relative contribution of mentalization, emotional dysregulation, cognitive distortions, and alcohol consumption among adolescent gamblers. A total of 396 students (69.2% females) aged 14–19 years were recruited from secondary schools in Southern Italy. Assessment measures included the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA), the Refective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8), the Diffculties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), the Gambling Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS), and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identifcation Test (AUDIT). Regression analysis showed that, along with male gender, the best predictors of adolescent gambling were scores on two GRCS subscales (i.e., ‘inability to stop gambling’ and ‘interpretative bias’), the RFQ-8’s ‘uncertainty about mental states’ dimension, and the DERS ‘impulse control difculties’ factor, with the overall model explaining more than one-third of the total variance. The results clearly indicated that, along with gambling-related cognitive distortions, uncertainty about mental states, and difculties remaining in control of one’s behavior when experiencing negative emotions contributed signifcantly to problematic gambling among adolescents

The associations between maladaptive personality traits, craving, alcohol use, and adolescent problem gambling: an Italian survey study

Although gambling disorder (GD) criteria do not explicitly address craving, it has received increased attention because it has been found to be a significant predictor of gambling severity. Furthermore, recent findings have suggested that both alcohol consumption and maladaptive personality traits may be risk factors among adult GD. To date, no study has evaluated the relative contribution of these factors in adolescent gambling behavior. Consequently, the present study investigated the relationship between gambling severity, craving, maladaptive personality traits, and alcohol use among adolescents. The sample comprised 550 Italian high-school students (50.2% males), aged 14–19 years (mean age = 16.24 years; SD  = 1.56). Participants were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised for Adolescents, Gambling Craving Scale (GACS), Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Brief Format (PID-5-BF), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results indicated that relative to both non-gamblers and non-problem gamblers, at-risk gamblers and problem gamblers scored higher on GACS, PID-5-BF and AUDIT. Regression analysis showed that Antagonism and Disinhibition PID-5-BF dimensions, Anticipation and Desire GACS subscales, and AUDIT total score were the best predictors of adolescent gambling involvement. These findings provide the first empirical evidence of associations between problematic gambling, craving, alcohol consumption, and maladaptive personality traits in adolescence

Attentional disengagement, craving, and mentalizing: a preliminary experimental study among older-aged male gamblers

Introduction: Empirical studies have demonstrated the role that attentional bias, the mutual excitatory relationship between attentional bias and craving, and mentalizing play in problem gambling. Although problem gambling rates among older-aged adults have steadily increased in recent years, research studies among this cohort are scarce. The present study is the first to empirically investigate attentional bias, as well as the joint role of attentional bias, craving, and mentalizing among older-aged gamblers. Method: Thirty-six male older-aged gamblers were administered the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Gambling Craving Scale (GACS), and the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ-8) to assess gambling severity, craving levels, and mentalizing, respectively. Participants also performed a modified Posner Task to investigate attentional biases. Results: Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that among older-aged male gamblers, GACS Anticipation and RFQ-8 Uncertainty about mental states, as well as disengagement bias at 100 ms, significantly predicted gambling severity. Conclusion: The present study provides the first empirical support for the role of attentional bias, craving, and mentalizing among older-aged gambling. More specifically, a difficult in disengaging attention away from gambling, the anticipation of pleasure deriving from gambling, and hypomentalizing predicted gambling severity among older-aged gamblers. The findings make an important contribution, by identifying the factors responsible for problem gambling among this specific age cohort and suggesting that timely interventions for mentalizing and attentional bias may be necessary to prevent problem gambling in old age

Efficient Electrochemical Water Splitting with PdSn4Dirac Nodal Arc Semimetal

Recently, several researchers have claimed the existence of superior catalytic activity associated with topological materials belonging to the class of Dirac/Weyl semimetals, owing to the high electron conductivity and charge carrier mobility in these topological materials. By means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrocatalytic tests, and density functional theory, we have investigated the chemical reactivity (chemisorption of ambient gases), ambient stability, and catalytic properties of PdSn4, a topological semimetal showing Dirac node arcs. We find a Tafel slope of 83 mV in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) dec-1with an overpotential of 50 mV, with performances resembling those of pure Pd, regardless of its limited amount in the alloy, with a subsequent reduction in the cost of raw materials by ∼80%. Remarkably, the PdSn4-based electrode shows superior robustness to CO compared to pure Pd and Pt and high stability in water media, although the PdSn4surface is prone to oxidation with the formation of a sub-nanometric SnO2skin. Moreover, we also assessed the significance of the role of topological electronic states in the observed catalytic properties. Actually, the peculiar atomic structure of oxidized PdSn4enables the migration of hydrogen atoms through the Sn-O layer with a barrier comparable with the energy cost of the Heyrovsky step of HER over Pt(111) in acidic media (0.1 eV). On the other hand, the topological properties play a minor role, if existing, contrarily to the recent reports overestimating their contribution in catalytic properties. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical SocietyD.W.B. acknowledges the support from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (through the basic part of the government mandate, project no. FEUZ-2020-0060 and Jiangsu Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talents Project). A.M., J.F., and F.V. acknowledge the Italian Ministry of University and Research MUR by the PRIN 2017 (no. 2017YH9MRK) and MISE FISR 2019 AMPERE (FISR2019_01294) projects for the financial support

Cultural variation in the role of responsibility in regret and disappointment:The Italian case

Regret and disappointment are decision-making related emotions. We examine the relation between these emotions and responsibility for the decision outcomes in the Italian language. This is interesting because in Italian, there exist multiple words that refer to regret and disappointment. We base our research on earlier studies by Zeelenberg, Van Dijk, Manstead, and Van der Pligt (1998) and Zeelenberg, Van Dijk, and Manstead (2000) and by Ordonez and Connolly (2000). The results show that several factors (terms, experimental situation and design) influence the relationship between responsibility on the one hand, and regret and disappointment on the other. As such we provide a demonstration of how emotion words and emotional experiences do not always have a one-to-one relationship. We suggest that it is important to take these factors into consideration when we investigate cognitive emotions such as regret and disappointment, which play a pivotal role in economic and consumer behavior. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

I obsessively clean because my deontological guilt makes me feel physiologically disgusted!

The emotions of guilt and disgust play a pivotal role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study hypothesized the existence of a distinctive relation between deontological (but not altruistic) guilt and subjective and physiological correlates of disgust. Moreover, we aimed at testing whether the evoked emotion of disgust may activate OCD-like washing behaviors. Gender-matched healthy participants were randomly assigned to altruistic (n = 31) or deontological guilt (n = 30) inductions followed by a cleaning task, while their electrocardiogram was continuously recorded to derive vagally-mediated heart rate variability (HRV). At baseline and after each experimental condition, participants' momentary emotional state was assessed by visual analog scales (VAS). Compared to altruistic guilt, deontological guilt had the effect of: a) enhancing the physiological correlate of disgust (i.e. augmented HRV); b) increasing OCD-like washing behaviors (e.g. checking). In both groups, washing behaviors had the effect to reduce the physiological correlate of disgust. These effects were stronger in participants with higher OC tendencies, as indicated by scores on the dispositional questionnaires. Results support previous reports on a distinctive relation between deontological guilt and both disgust and OCD symptom

Feeding disorders of early childhood: an empirical study of diagnostic subtypes

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the differences among three subtypes of feeding disorders (FD), defined through the criteria of the DC:0-3R: Infantile Anorexia (IA), Feeding Disorder Associated with Insults to the Gastrointestinal Tract (FDIGT), and Sensory Food Aversions (SFA), by exploring motherchild interactions during feeding, children's temperament and emotionaladaptive functioning, and mothers' psychological profile and eating attitudes. Method: The sample consisted of 146 Italian motherchild pairs, of which 51 children with IA, 47 children with FDIGT, and 48 mothers and their children with SFA. All dyads were videotaped during feeding; mothers completed questionnaires assessing their psychological profiles and eating attitudes, as well as their children's temperament and emotional/behavioral functioning. Results: Analyses revealed significant differences between the diagnostic groups of FD in relation to motherchild interactions during feeding, children's temperament and emotionaladaptive functioning, and mothers' psychological profile and eating attitudes. Discussion: Both interactional and individual variables may contribute differently to specific FD and outcomes during childhood. Definitions by FD subtypes, using operational diagnostic criteria, and the assessment of motherchild interactions are relevant to target interventions strategies to treat specific disorders. (c) 2012 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2013)Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the differences among three subtypes of feeding disorders (FD), defined through the criteria of the DC:0-3R: "Infantile Anorexia" (IA), "Feeding Disorder Associated with Insults to the Gastrointestinal Tract" (FDIGT), and "Sensory Food Aversions" (SFA), by exploring mother-child interactions during feeding, children's temperament and emotional-adaptive functioning, and mothers' psychological profile and eating attitudes. Method: The sample consisted of 146 Italian mother-child pairs, of which 51 children with IA, 47 children with FDIGT, and 48 mothers and their children with SFA. All dyads were videotaped during feeding; mothers completed questionnaires assessing their psychological profiles and eating attitudes, as well as their children's temperament and emotional/behavioral functioning. Results: Analyses revealed significant differences between the diagnostic groups of FD in relation to mother-child interactions during feeding, children's temperament and emotional-adaptive functioning, and mothers' psychological profile and eating attitudes. Discussion: Both interactional and individual variables may contribute differently to specific FD and outcomes during childhood. Definitions by FD subtypes, using operational diagnostic criteria, and the assessment of mother-child interactions are relevant to target interventions strategies to treat specific disorders