Personality Traits Predict Non-Substance Related and Substance Related Addictive Behaviours

Aims: To examine whether personality traits predict the course of addictive behaviours in general and whether predictive associations differ between non-substance related (NR) and substance related (SR) addictive behaviours. Methodology: We recruited 338 individuals (19–27 y, 59 % female) from a random community sample with NR, SR, or no DSM-5 addictive disorder. Predictors were the Big Five personality traits (NEO-FFI) and reward and punishment sensitivity (BIS/BAS questionnaire). Outcomes were the slopes of addictive behaviours (i. e., quantity, frequency, and number of DSM-5 criteria) over three years. Bayesian multiple regressions were used to analyse the probabilities for each hypothesis. Results: The evidence that higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness, lower agreeableness, higher extraversion, lower openness, higher reward sensitivity, and lower punishment sensitivity predict increased addictive behaviours over time was, overall, moderate to high (69 % to 99 %) and varied by trait and outcome. Predictive associations were mostly higher for NR compared with SR addictive behaviours. Conclusions: Personality traits predict the course of addictive behaviours, but associations were only about half as large as expected. While some personality traits, such as lower conscientiousness, predict increases in both NR and SR addictive behaviours over time, others, such as lower punishment sensitivity, seem to specifically predict increases in NR addictive behaviours.Zielsetzung: Untersuchung der Vorhersage des Verlaufs von abhängigem Verhalten durch Persönlichkeitsmerkmale und Prüfung, ob sich diese prädiktiven Assoziationen zwischen verhaltensbezogenem (VB) und substanzbezogenem (SB) abhängigen Verhalten unterscheiden. Methodik: Wir rekrutierten 338 Personen (19–27 Jahre, 59 % weiblich) aus einer kommunalen Zufallsstichprobe mit einer VB-, einer SB- oder keiner DSM-5-Abhängigkeit. Prädiktoren waren die „Big Five“-Persönlichkeitsmerkmale (NEO-FFI) und die Belohnungs- und Bestrafungssensitivität (BIS/BAS-Fragebogen). Die Outcomes waren der Verlauf des abhängigen Verhaltens (d. h. Menge und Häufigkeit des Konsums und Anzahl der erfüllten DSM-5-Kriterien) über drei Jahre. Zur Analyse der Wahrscheinlichkeiten für jede Hypothese wurden Bayes‘sche multiple Regressionsanalysen verwendet. Ergebnisse: Die Evidenz, dass höherer Neurotizismus, geringere Gewissenhaftigkeit, geringere Verträglichkeit, höhere Extraversion, geringere Offenheit, höhere Belohnungssensitivität und geringere Bestrafungssensitivität eine Zunahme von Merkmalen abhängigen Verhaltens im Laufe der Zeit vorhersagen, war insgesamt moderat bis hoch (69 % bis 99 %) und variierte je nach Persönlichkeitsmerkmal und Outcome. Die prädiktiven Assoziationen waren meist höher für VB im Vergleich zu SB abhängigen Verhalten. Schlussfolgerungen: Persönlichkeitsmerkmale sagen den Verlauf des abhängigen Verhaltens voraus, allerdings waren die Zusammenhänge nur etwa halb so groß wie erwartet. Während einige Persönlichkeitsmerkmale, wie z. B. eine geringere Gewissenhaftigkeit, im Laufe der Zeit eine Zunahme des VB und des SB abhängigen Verhaltens vorhersagen, scheinen andere, wie z. B. eine geringere Sensibilität für Bestrafung, speziell eine Zunahme des VB abhängigen Verhaltens vorherzusagen

A systematic review of the relationship between rigidity/flexibility and transdiagnostic cognitive and behavioral processes that maintain psychopathology

An ever-growing number of transdiagnostic processes that maintain psychopathology across disorders have been identified. However, such processes are not consistently associated with psychological distress and symptoms. An understanding of what makes such processes pathological is required. One possibility is that individual differences in rigidity in the implementation of these processes determine the degree of psychopathology. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between rigidity/flexibility and transdiagnostic maintenance processes. Initial searches were made for research examining relationships between 18 transdiagnostic processes and rigidity/flexibility. Relationships between rumination, perfectionism, impulsivity and compulsivity, and rigidity/flexibility were systemically reviewed; 50 studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of studies indicated that transdiagnostic cognitive and behavioral maintenance processes and rigidity were correlated, co-occurring, or predictive of each other. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that it is inflexibility in the manner in which processes are employed that makes them pathologically problematic. However, further research is required to test and establish this

Effect of mitratapide on body composition, body measurements and glucose tolerance in obese Beagles

The objective of this study was to confirm that weight loss after treatment with mitratapide (Yarvitan®) is loss of adipose tissue. Obese dogs were treated with the recommended treatment schedule of mitratapide. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was done before and after the treatment schedule. Body weight, feed consumption and pelvic circumference were recorded and a glucose tolerance test was performed. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements showed an impressive loss of fat tissue, corresponding to a mean loss of approximately 41.6% of the body fat mass recorded before treatment. After treatment with mitratapide, the mean body fat percentage had returned within the normal range. At the end of the study, the dogs had lost on average 14.2% of their body weight and 15.2% of their pelvic circumference compared to baseline. The results also suggest that losing weight with mitratapide might help to reverse insulin resistance

Spontaneous and deliberate future thinking: A dual process account

© 2019 Springer Nature.This is the final published version of an article published in Psychological Research, licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-bution 4.0 International License. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01262-7.In this article, we address an apparent paradox in the literature on mental time travel and mind-wandering: How is it possible that future thinking is both constructive, yet often experienced as occurring spontaneously? We identify and describe two ‘routes’ whereby episodic future thoughts are brought to consciousness, with each of the ‘routes’ being associated with separable cognitive processes and functions. Voluntary future thinking relies on controlled, deliberate and slow cognitive processing. The other, termed involuntary or spontaneous future thinking, relies on automatic processes that allows ‘fully-fledged’ episodic future thoughts to freely come to mind, often triggered by internal or external cues. To unravel the paradox, we propose that the majority of spontaneous future thoughts are ‘pre-made’ (i.e., each spontaneous future thought is a re-iteration of a previously constructed future event), and therefore based on simple, well-understood, memory processes. We also propose that the pre-made hypothesis explains why spontaneous future thoughts occur rapidly, are similar to involuntary memories, and predominantly about upcoming tasks and goals. We also raise the possibility that spontaneous future thinking is the default mode of imagining the future. This dual process approach complements and extends standard theoretical approaches that emphasise constructive simulation, and outlines novel opportunities for researchers examining voluntary and spontaneous forms of future thinking.Peer reviewe

The Temporal Dynamics of Voluntary Emotion Regulation

Background: Neuroimaging has demonstrated that voluntary emotion regulation is effective in reducing amygdala activation to aversive stimuli during regulation. However, to date little is known about the sustainability of these neural effects once active emotion regulation has been terminated. Methodology/Principal Findings: We addressed this issue by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in healthy female subjects. We performed an active emotion regulation task using aversive visual scenes (task 1) and a subsequent passive viewing task using the same stimuli (task 2). Here we demonstrate not only a significantly reduced amygdala activation during active regulation but also a sustained regulation effect on the amygdala in the subsequent passive viewing task. This effect was related to an immediate increase of amygdala signal in task 1 once active emotion regulation has been terminated: The larger this peak postregulation signal in the amygdala in task 1, the smaller the sustained regulation effect in task 2. Conclusions/Significance: In summary, we found clear evidence that effects of voluntary emotion regulation extend beyond the period of active regulation. These findings are of importance for the understanding of emotion regulation i

The ReCoDe addiction research consortium:Losing and regaining control over drug intake-Findings and future perspectives

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are seen as a continuum ranging from goal-directed and hedonic drug use to loss of control over drug intake with aversive consequences for mental and physical health and social functioning. The main goals of our interdisciplinary German collaborative research centre on Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake (ReCoDe) are (i) to study triggers (drug cues, stressors, drug priming) and modifying factors (age, gender, physical activity, cognitive functions, childhood adversity, social factors, such as loneliness and social contact/interaction) that longitudinally modulate the trajectories of losing and regaining control over drug consumption under real-life conditions. (ii) To study underlying behavioural, cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of disease trajectories and drug-related behaviours and (iii) to provide non-invasive mechanism-based interventions. These goals are achieved by: (A) using innovative mHealth (mobile health) tools to longitudinally monitor the effects of triggers and modifying factors on drug consumption patterns in real life in a cohort of 900 patients with alcohol use disorder. This approach will be complemented by animal models of addiction with 24/7 automated behavioural monitoring across an entire disease trajectory; i.e. from a naïve state to a drug-taking state to an addiction or resilience-like state. (B) The identification and, if applicable, computational modelling of key molecular, neurobiological and psychological mechanisms (e.g., reduced cognitive flexibility) mediating the effects of such triggers and modifying factors on disease trajectories. (C) Developing and testing non-invasive interventions (e.g., Just-In-Time-Adaptive-Interventions (JITAIs), various non-invasive brain stimulations (NIBS), individualized physical activity) that specifically target the underlying mechanisms for regaining control over drug intake. Here, we will report on the most important results of the first funding period and outline our future research strategy.</p

Modelos explicativos da memória prospectiva: uma revisão teórica

Neste artigo é apresentada uma revisão da literatura sobre os mecanismos cognitivos associados à memória prospectiva, organizados de acordo com a divisão das diferentes fases da recordação prospectiva (i.e., codificação, retenção e recuperação). Inicialmente, é apresentada a diversidade de dados da investigação que sustentam diferentes abordagens explicativas do fenômeno de recuperação de intenções, considerando a natureza automática ou estratégica da memória prospectiva. Em seguida, são salientadas as potenciais explicações sobre os mecanismos presentes durante o intervalo de retenção e na fase de codificação.(undefined

The assessment and rehabilitation of prospective memory problems in people with neurological disorders: A review

People with neurological disorders often report difficulty with prospective memory (PM), that is, remembering to do things they had intended to do. This paper briefly reviews the literature regarding the neuropsychology of PM function, concluding that from the clinical perspective, PM is best considered in terms of its separable but interacting mnemonic and executive components. Next, the strengths and limitations in the current clinical assessment of PM, including the assessment of component processes, desktop analogues of PM tasks, and naturalistic PM tasks, are outlined. The evidence base for the rehabilitation of PM is then considered, focusing on retraining PM, using retrospective memory strategies, problem-solving training, and finally, electronic memory aids. It is proposed that further research should focus on establishing the predictive validity of PM assessment, and refining promising rehabilitation techniques