Assessing post-cue exposure craving and its association with amount wagered in an optional betting task

Background and aims: The current study was designed to assess the impact of wins and losses in simulated blackjack on craving to gamble and to assess the extent to which this craving was associated with actual wagering in an optional gambling task. Methods: Participants were undergraduates attending a large Midwestern university in the United States. They completed the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and then were randomized to either a condition in which they would win 15 hands of blackjack (Win condition; n = 41) or lose 15 hands (Lose condition; n = 37) out of a total of 20 hands. After playing blackjack and completing several additional questionnaires, participants had the chance to wager their $5 compensation for the opportunity to win$50. Results: GUS scores increased significantly following blackjack, regardless of condition. We also found that post-blackjack craving was significantly associated with the amount participants wagered in the optional betting task, such that greater craving was associated with higher amount wagered. Conclusions: These findings provide further support for the construct validity of the GUS, provide novel findings regarding the effects of wins and losses when gambling, and provide evidence of an association between craving and a behavioral betting task

Tanning addiction: conceptualisation, assessment, and correlates

Background: Research into problematic tanning (or 'tanning addiction') has markedly increased over the past few years. Although several excessive tanning instruments exist, most of these are psychometrically poor, not theoretically anchored, and have mainly been used on small samples. Objective: Against this background, a new tanning addiction scale was developed based on a specific theoretical approach utilising core addiction criteria. Methods: A scale comprising seven items (i.e. salience/craving, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse/loss of control, and problems) was administered online to a cross-sectional convenience sample of 23,537 adults (M age=35.8 years, SD=13.3), together with an assessment of demographic factors, the five-factor model of personality, and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and depression. Results: A confirmatory factor analysis showed that a one-factor model showed an optimal fit with the data collected (RMSEA=.050 [90% CI=.047–.053], CFI=.99, TLI=.99). High factor loadings (.781–.905, all p<.001) and coefficient omega indicator of reliability (ω=.941 [95% CI=.939–.944]) were also found using the new scale. In a multiple linear regression analysis, tanning addiction was positively associated with being female, not being in a relationship, extroversion, neuroticism, anxiety and obsessive-compulsiveness. It was also found that educational level, intellect/openness and depression were inversely associated with tanning addiction. Conclusions: The new scale, Bergen Tanning Addiction Scale (BTAS), showed good psychometric properties, and is the first scale to fully conceptualise tanning addiction within a contemporary addiction framework. Given this, the BTAS may potentially assist future clinical practice in providing appropriate patient care, prevention and disease management

Psychometric properties of the Italian versions of the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ)

Gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy beliefs play a major role in the development and maintenance of problem gambling. This study aimed to translate the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ) from English to Italian (GUS-I, GRSEQ-I) and to test their factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, concurrent validity, and gender differences in 513 individuals from the Italian community. Factor structure and construct validity were tested through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, internal consistency through Cronbach’s alpha, concurrent validity through correlations with gambling-related cognitions (GRCS-I), probable pathological gambling (SOGS-I), and gambling functioning (GFA-R-I). Results confirmed that the 6 items of the GUS-I load highly on one dimension of Gambling Urge, and each of the 26 items of the GRSEQ-I load highly on their relevant sub-dimension, among the following: situations/thoughts, drugs, positive emotions, negative emotions. Both scales are internally consistent and show concurrent validity with gambling-related cognitions, probable pathological gambling, and gambling functioning. Males score higher than females at the GUS-I; females score higher than males at the GRSEQ-I. The findings from the present study suggest that the GUS-I and the GRSEQ-I are internally consistent and valid scales for the assessment of gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy in Italian individuals from the community, with significant repercussions in terms of assessment, prevention, and intervention

Synthetic Cathinones—Prevalence and Motivations for Use

This book chapter reviews the prevalence and motivations for use of synthetic cathinones with respect to their availability, legal status, numbers and seized amounts

An Evaluation of the Impact of Cue Exposure on the Relationship Between Pain Level and Craving For Prescription Opiods

Researchers have suggested that craving is one factor that maintains prescription opioid use in opioid-addicted pain patients. Additional research assessing craving in opioid addicted patients as a function of pain severity could provide evidence that those experiencing greater pain also experience greater craving. I designed the current study to assess the impact of exposure to opioid cues versus control cues on craving as a function of pain severity among a sample of prescription opioid-addicted patients. I also assessed whether drug use characteristics were associated with craving for prescription opioids. I recruited patients who preferred prescription opioids as their primary drug of choice from three different drug treatment centers. Prior to and following cue exposure, participants completed the multi-dimensional Desire for Drugs Questionnaire (DDQ) and the dot probe task to assess craving and attentional bias, respectively. Participants were then randomly assigned to listen to either a recording of a narrated scenario in which prescription opioids were mentioned (i.e., active cue exposure) or a recording of a narrated scenario in which prescription opioids were not mentioned (i.e., control cue exposure). Contrary to my hypotheses, prescription opioid-related cue exposure did not enhance craving. In addition, although participants showed attentional bias to opioid-related words at baseline, there was no significant impact of cue exposure on attentional bias. Multiple regression analyses revealed that pain severity was significantly associated with desire-and-intention to use prescription opioids, but not with craving for relief from negative states. Furthermore, preoccupation and intrusive thoughts about prescription opioids, negative meta-cognitions about craving, and outcome expectancies of pain relief from taking prescription opioids were significantly associated with craving. The DDQ seems to provide a more sophisticated measurement of craving relative to single-item rating scale. In addition, these results may help clinicians and researchers to define craving as an urge to achieve euphoria from the drug, rather than urge to avoid dysphoria in individuals who experience both pain and opioid addiction. Tailoring cue exposure and opioid-related stimuli used in the dot probe task could show more robust effects of cue exposure on craving and attentional bias

An Evaluation of the Impact of Cue Exposure on the Relationship Between Pain Level and Craving For Prescription Opiods

Researchers have suggested that craving is one factor that maintains prescription opioid use in opioid-addicted pain patients. Additional research assessing craving in opioid addicted patients as a function of pain severity could provide evidence that those experiencing greater pain also experience greater craving. I designed the current study to assess the impact of exposure to opioid cues versus control cues on craving as a function of pain severity among a sample of prescription opioid-addicted patients. I also assessed whether drug use characteristics were associated with craving for prescription opioids. I recruited patients who preferred prescription opioids as their primary drug of choice from three different drug treatment centers. Prior to and following cue exposure, participants completed the multi-dimensional Desire for Drugs Questionnaire (DDQ) and the dot probe task to assess craving and attentional bias, respectively. Participants were then randomly assigned to listen to either a recording of a narrated scenario in which prescription opioids were mentioned (i.e., active cue exposure) or a recording of a narrated scenario in which prescription opioids were not mentioned (i.e., control cue exposure). Contrary to my hypotheses, prescription opioid-related cue exposure did not enhance craving. In addition, although participants showed attentional bias to opioid-related words at baseline, there was no significant impact of cue exposure on attentional bias. Multiple regression analyses revealed that pain severity was significantly associated with desire-and-intention to use prescription opioids, but not with craving for relief from negative states. Furthermore, preoccupation and intrusive thoughts about prescription opioids, negative meta-cognitions about craving, and outcome expectancies of pain relief from taking prescription opioids were significantly associated with craving. The DDQ seems to provide a more sophisticated measurement of craving relative to single-item rating scale. In addition, these results may help clinicians and researchers to define craving as an urge to achieve euphoria from the drug, rather than urge to avoid dysphoria in individuals who experience both pain and opioid addiction. Tailoring cue exposure and opioid-related stimuli used in the dot probe task could show more robust effects of cue exposure on craving and attentional bias