Unexpected online gambling disorder in late-life : a case report

Background: The lifetime prevalence of problem or Gambling disorder (GD) in the elderly (i.e., those over 60 years old) is reported to range from 0.01 to 10.9%. Research has identified several specific risk factors and vulnerabilities in the elderly. Since the late 1990s, an increase in online GD has been observed in the youth population, whereas casinos, slot machines, and bingo seem to be the activities of choice among the elderly. Interestingly, online GD has not been described in the elderly to date. Case Description: We report an 83-year-old man who started online casino gambling from the age of 80 years, leading to debts that exceeded €30,000. He underwent a full clinical and neuropsychological assessment, without any evidence of cognitive impairment or any associated neurodegenerative disease. However, he had risk factors for GD, including adjustment disorder, stressful life events, previous offline casino GD when 50 years old, and dysfunctional personality traits. The change to online GD may have been due to his isolation, movement difficulties, and his high level of education, which facilitated his access to the Internet. Care management focused on individual cognitive-behavioral therapy. Conclusion: The prevalence of online GD may be underestimated among the elderly, and may increase among isolated old people with movement difficulties and ready access to the Internet. However, late-life GD should be considered a diagnosis of elimination, requiring a full medical, psychiatric (including suicide risk), and cognitive assessment. Specific therapeutic approaches need to be proposed and developed

Validation of the Spanish version of the Yale food addiction scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) and clinical correlates in a sample of eating disorder, gambling disorder, and healthy control participants

Aims: Due to the increasing evidence of shared vulnerabilities between addictive behaviors and excessive food intake, the concept of food addiction in specific clinical populations has become a topic of scientific interest. The aim of this study was to validate the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) 2.0 in a Spanish sample. We also sought to explore food addiction and its clinical correlates in eating disorder (ED) and gambling disorder (GD) patients.Methods: The sample included 301 clinical cases (135 ED and 166 GD), diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria, and 152 healthy controls (HC) recruited from the general population.Results: Food addiction was more prevalent in patients with ED, than in patients with GD and HC (77.8, 7.8, and 3.3%, respectively). Food addiction severity was associated with higher BMI, psychopathology and specific personality traits, such as higher harm avoidance, and lower self-directedness. The psychometrical properties of the Spanish version of the YFAS 2.0 were excellent with good convergent validity. Moreover, it obtained good accuracy in discriminating between diagnostic subtypes.Conclusions: Our results provide empirical support for the use of the Spanish YFAS 2.0 as a reliable and valid tool to assess food addiction among several clinical populations (namely ED and GD). The prevalence of food addiction is heterogeneous between disorders. Common risk factors such as high levels of psychopathology and low self-directedness appear to be present in individuals with food addiction

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the DNA decamers d(CCGGATCCGG) and d(CCGGCGCCGG)

The DNA decamers d(CCGGATCCGG) and d(CCGGCGCCGG) have been crystallized for X-ray analysis in order to investigate the effects of changing the two central base pairs of the DNA fragment d(CCGGGACCGG). Previous studies have already demonstrated that the structure of the former DNA fragment contains a DNA Holliday junction. Crystals were obtained at 293 K by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique using the Nucleic Acid Mini Screen. Over a period of two weeks, hexagonal plates appeared. For the DNA fragment d(CCGGATCCGG), the crystals belong to space group P31, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 33.54, c = 46.39 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°, and diffract to 2.2 Å. In the case of the DNA fragment d(CCGGCGCCGG) the crystals belong to the space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 65.35, b = 24.07, c = 37.34 Å, β = 109.97°, and diffract to 2.0 ÅPeer Reviewe

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the antimalarial and cytotoxic alkaloid cryptolepine complexed with the DNA fragment d(CCTAGG)2

Crystals of the indoloquinoline alkaloid cryptolepine complexed with the DNA fragment d(CCTAGG)2 have been grown by the hanging-drop technique at 293 K using ammonium sulfate as the precipitating agent. Over a period of three weeks, yellow tapering bullet-shaped crystals grew to maximum dimensions of 0.2 × 0.1 × 0.1 mm. The crystals belong to space group P64, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 29.960, c = 39.64 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°, and diffract to 1.4 Å.Peer Reviewe

Clinical, Psychopathological, and Personality Characteristics Associated with ADHD among Individuals Seeking Treatment for Gambling Disorder

Objectives. (1) To assess the current presence of ADHD symptoms among patients seeking treatment for gambling disorder; (2) to explore clinical and sociodemographic differences between patients who score high and low on the measure of ADHD symptoms; (3) to analyze whether the presence of ADHD symptoms is associated with more severe psychopathology and with specific personality traits; (4) to analyze the mediating role of ADHD symptoms in the relationship between novelty seeking and gambling severity. Method. A total of 354 consecutive patients were administered an extensive battery assessing gambling behavior, psychopathology, and personality traits. Results. Male and female gamblers did not differ significantly in their mean scores on the ADHD measure. However, younger participants aged 18–35 scored higher. Higher ADHD scores were also associated with greater severity of gambling disorder and more general psychopathology. Regarding personality traits, high persistence and self-directedness were negatively related to ADHD scores, while in women alone a positive correlation was found between ADHD scores and scores on harm avoidance and self-transcendence. Conclusion. The presence of ADHD symptoms in both male and female gambling disorder patients may act as an indicator of the severity of gambling, general psychopathology, and dysfunctional personality traits

Differences in Emotion Regulation Considering Gender, Age, and Gambling Preferences in a Sample of Gambling Disorder Patients

Altres ajuts: This manuscript and research were supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and cofounded by the FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a way to build Europe. CIBERobn and CIBERsam are initiatives of ISCIII. This work was also supported by the Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas(2017I067).Introduction: Impairments in emotion regulation are understood to be a transdiagnostic risk factor of suffering from compulsive and addictive behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of emotion regulation deficits in gambling disorder and to analyze these differences taking gender, age, and gambling activity preferences into account. Methods: The sample included n = 484 patients seeking treatment for gambling disorder at a specialized outpatient service. Main outcomes were sociodemographic variables, emotion regulation, and gambling severity. Results: Differences between sexes were found in non-acceptance of emotions. Older patients obtained higher levels in non-acceptance of emotions, lack of emotion regulation strategies, emotional clarity, and global emotion regulation scores. No differences were found in emotion scores considering gambling preferences (non-strategic versus strategic). Path analysis showed that emotion regulation scores and age had a direct effect on gambling disorder severity, while emotion regulation and gambling preference were not mediational variables in the relationships of gender and age with gambling severity. Conclusions: Emotion regulation impairments differ in patients seeking treatment for gambling problems. Early prevention and intervention programs should incorporate the different dimensions of this process, taking into account clinical phenotypes