29 research outputs found
Addiction in Extreme Sports: An Exploration of Withdrawal States in Rock Climbers
Background and aims Extreme sports athletes are often labeled âadrenaline junkiesâ by the media, implying they are addicted to their sport. Research suggests during abstinence these athletes may experience withdrawal states characteristic of individuals with an addiction (Celsi, Rose, & Leigh, 1993; Franken, Zijlstra, & Muris, 2006; Willig, 2008). Despite this notion, no research has directly explored withdrawal experiences of extreme sports athletes. Methods Using semi-structured interviews, we explored withdrawal experiences of high (nâ=â4) and average-ability (nâ=â4) male rock climbers during periods of abstinence. We investigated the psychological and behavioral aspects of withdrawal, including craving, anhedonia, and negative affect; and differences in the frequency and intensity of these states between groups. Results Deductive content analysis indicated support for each of the three categories of anhedonia, craving, and negative affect. Consistent with existing substance addiction literature, high-ability climbers recalled more frequent and intense craving states and negative affect during abstinence compared with average-ability climbers. No differences in anhedonic symptoms between high and average-ability participants were found. Conclusions Rock climbing athletes appear to experience withdrawal symptoms when abstinent from their sport comparable to individuals with substance and behavioral addictions. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed
Does the Fast Alcohol Screening Test Accurately Distinguish Between Harmful and Severely Dependent Tiers of Alcohol Misuse?
AIMS: Primary aim: to determine the efficacy of FAST (the Fast Alcohol Screening Test) for detecting harmful and dependent levels of alcohol use. Secondary aim: to compare the performance of the FAST to two short forms of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT): the AUDIT-C and AUDIT-3. METHODS: Data from 3336 individuals in South Wales, compiled from full AUDIT datasets, were examined. AUROC analysis, alongside measures of sensitivity and specificity of the FAST, AUDIT-C and AUDIT-3 were utilized for the identification of harmful and dependent alcohol use. RESULTS: The FAST demonstrated efficacy in the identification of harmful and dependent levels of alcohol use, with superior performance to both the AUDIT-C and AUDIT-3. CONCLUSION: The present paper demonstrates the potential of the FAST as a cost- and time-effective method for appropriate screening and signposting in the stepped care model utilized by many health care and treatment services. Further studies are needed to ensure validity, both within the general population and for specific services and populations
The Paradox of the Frontal Lobe Paradox. A Scoping Review
The âfrontal lobe paradoxâ highlights a phenomenon in which a subset of patients who possess frontal lobe damage and exhibit marked impairments in everyday life are still able to able to verbally describe a logical course of action relating to a task and perform well in interview and test settings. Such cases pose a challenge with regard to the assessment of mental capacity within clinical settings. Recent position articles state that the frontal lobe paradox is a well-known phenomenon within the field of neuropsychology, anecdotal reports from clinicians in the UK suggest this is not the case. Consequently, we conducted a scoping review to examine the breadth and depth of literature relating to the frontal lobe paradox. Searches were conducted using electronic databases and search engines, which were supplemented with a snowball search of the references used within relevant literature. We identified and reviewed 28 documents specifically related to the frontal lobe paradox. Nearly 50% of all identified academic texts published since 2000 were position articles that cited a handful of case studies published between 1936 and 1986 as evidence for the phenomenon. We also observed instances of articles citing position articles as evidence of the frontal lobe paradox. Overall, our findings indicate a lack of readily accessible research specific to the frontal lobe paradox. In particular, there is a lack of contemporary research specific to the subject and an absence of clarification as to which syndromes and disorders are included within the term
Applicability of the ACE-III and RBANS cognitive tests for the detection of Alcohol-Related Brain Damage
Background and aims: Recent investigations have highlighted the value of neuropsychological testing for the assessment and screening of Alcohol-Related Brain Damage (ARBD). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the suitability of the Addenbrookeâs Cognitive Examination (ACE-III) and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) for this purpose.
Methods: Comparing 28 participants with ARBD (11 with Korsakoffâs Syndrome and 17 with the umbrella âARBDâ diagnosis) and 30 alcohol-dependent participants without ARBD (ALs) we calculated Area Under the Curve (AUC) statistics, sensitivity and specificity values, base-rate adjusted predictive values, and likelihood ratios for both tests.
Results: High levels of screening accuracy were found for the total scores of both the ACE-III (AUC = .823, 95% CIs [.714, .932], SE = .056; optimal cut-off â€86: sensitivity = 82%, specificity = 73%) and RBANS (AUC = .846, 95% CIs [.746, .947], SE = .052; optimal cut-off â€83: sensitivity = 89%, specificity = 67%) at multiple cut-off points. Removing participants with a history of polysubstance from the samples (10 ALs and 1 ARBD) improved the diagnostic capabilities of the RBANS substantially (AUC = .915, 95% CIs [.831, .999], SE = .043; optimal cut-off â€85: sensitivity = 98%, specificity = 80%), while only minor improvements to the ACE-IIIâs accuracy were observed (AUC = .854, 95% CIs [.744, .963], SE = .056; optimal cut-off â€88: sensitivity = 85%, specificity = 75%).
Conclusions: Overall, both the ACE-III and RBANS are suitable tools for ARBD screening within an alcohol-dependent population, though the RBANS is the superior of the two. Clinicians using these tools for ARBD screening should be cautious of false-positive outcomes and should therefore combine them with other assessment methods (e.g., neuroimaging, clinical observations) and more detailed neuropsychological testing before reaching diagnostic decisions
Response to âNature fix: Addiction to outdoor activitiesâ R. C. Buckleyâs commentary on Heirene, R. M., Shearer, D., Roderique-Davies, G., & Mellalieu, S. D. (2016). Addiction in extreme sports: An exploration of withdrawal states in rock climbers. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5, 332â341.
Buckleyâs commentary on our study of rock climberâs withdrawal experiences raises a number of important questions surrounding the concept of extreme or adventure sports addiction. Drawing on the few available investigations of this topic, we respond to Buckleyâs questions here, though emphasize the need for further studies of extreme sports addiction in order to provide more empirically informed answers
Identification and Evaluation of Neuropsychological Tools Used in the Assessment of Alcohol-Related Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review
Background: Neuropsychological assessment is central to identifying and determining the extent of Alcohol-Related Cognitive Impairment (ARCI). The present systematic review aimed to synthesize and discuss the evidence appraising the neuropsychological tests used to assess ARCI in order to support clinicians and researchers in selecting appropriate tests for use with this population.Methods: We searched for studies investigating the psychometric, diagnostic and practical values of tools used in the screening, diagnosis, and assessment of Korsakoff's Syndrome (KS), Alcohol-Related Dementia (ARD), and those with a specific diagnosis of Alcohol-Related Brain Damage (ARBD). The following databases were searched in March 2016 and again in August 2018: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psych-INFO, ProQuest Psychology, and Science Direct. Study quality was assessed using a checklist designed by the authors to evaluate the specific factors contributing to robust and clearly reported studies in this area. A total of 43 studies were included following the screening of 3646 studies by title and abstract and 360 at full-text. Meta-analysis was not appropriate due to heterogeneity in the tests and ARCI samples investigated in the studies reviewed. Instead, review findings were narratively synthesized and divided according to five domains of assessment: cognitive screening, memory, executive function, intelligence and test batteries, and premorbid ability. Effect sizes (d) were calculated to supplement findings.Results: Overall, several measures demonstrated sensitivity to the cognitive deficits associated with chronic alcoholism and an ability to differentiate between gradations of impairment. However, findings relating to the other psychometric qualities of the tests, including those important for the accurate assessment and monitoring of ARCI (e.g., test-retest reliability), were entirely absent or limited. Additionally, the synthesis of neuropsychological outcomes presented here supports the recent impetus for a move away from discrete diagnoses (e.g., KS, ARD) and the distinctions between them toward more broad and inclusive diagnostic conceptualizations of ARCI, thereby recognizing the heterogeneity in presentation.Conclusions: Based on the evidence reviewed, provisional recommendations for appropriate tests in each domain of assessment are presented, though further validation of most tests is warranted. Review findings can support efficient and evidenced-based test-selection and guide future research in this area
Epidemiological Agent-Based Modelling Software (Epiabm)
Epiabm is a fully tested, open-source software package for epidemiological
agent-based modelling, re-implementing the well-known CovidSim model from the
MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London.
It has been developed as part of the first-year training programme in the EPSRC
SABS:R3 Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Oxford. The model
builds an age-stratified, spatially heterogeneous population and offers a
modular approach to configure and run epidemic scenarios, allowing for a broad
scope of investigative and comparative studies. Two simulation backends are
provided: a pedagogical Python backend (with full functionality) and a high
performance C++ backend for use with larger population simulations. Both are
highly modular, with comprehensive testing and documentation for ease of
understanding and extensibility. Epiabm is publicly available through GitHub at
https://github.com/SABS-R3-Epidemiology/epiabm.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Open Research Softwar
The landscape of open science in behavioral addiction research: Current practices and future directions
Open science refers to a set of practices that aim to make scientific research more transparent, accessible, and reproducible, including pre-registration of study protocols, sharing of data and materials, the use of transparent research methods, and open access publishing. In this commentary, we describe and evaluate the current state of open science practices in behavioral addiction research. We highlight the specific value of open science practices for the field; discuss recent field-specific meta-scientific reviews that show the adoption of such practices remains in its infancy; address the challenges to engaging with open science; and make recommendations for how researchers, journals, and scientific institutions can work to overcome these challenges and promote high-quality, transparently reported behavioral addiction research. By collaboratively promoting open science practices, the field can create a more sustainable and productive research environment that benefits both the scientific community and society as a whole
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There is an 'Eye' in Team: Exploring the Interplay Between Emotion, Gaze Behavior and Collective Efficacy in Team Sport Settings
Data Availability Statement: The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.Copyright © 2019 Shearer, Leeworthy, Jones, Rickards, Blake, Heirene, Gross and Bruton. Little is understood about the attentional mechanisms that lead to perceptions of collective efficacy. This paper presents two studies that address this lack of understanding. Study 1 examined participants (N = 59) attentional processes relating to positive, neutral or negative emotional facial photographs, when instructed to select their âmost confidentâ or âleast confidentâ team. Eye gaze metrics of first fixation duration (FFD), fixation duration (FD) and fixation count (FC) were measured alongside individual perceptions of collective efficacy and emotional valence of the teams selected. Participants had shorter FFD, longer FD, and more FC on positive faces when instructed to select their most confident team (p < .05). Collective efficacy and emotional valence were significantly greater when participants selected their most confident team (p < .05). Study 2 explored the influence of video content familiarity of team-based observation interventions on attentional processes and collective efficacy in interdependent team-sport athletes (N = 34). When participants were exposed to familiar (own team/sport) and unfamiliar (unknown team/sport) team-based performance video, eye tracking data revealed similar gaze behaviours for the two conditions in terms of areas of interest. However, collective efficacy increased most for the familiar condition. Study 1 results indicate that the emotional expressions of team members influence both where and for how long we look at potential team members, and that conspecificsâ emotional expression impacts on our perceptions of collective efficacy. For Study 2, given the apparent greater increase in collective efficacy for the familiar condition, the similar attentional processes evident for familiar and unfamiliar team footage suggests that differences in meaning of the observed content dictates collective efficacy perceptions. Across both studies, the findings indicate the importance of positive emotional vicarious experiences when using team-based observation interventions to improve collective efficacy in teams.University of South Wales (Study 1); University of Roehampton (Study 2)