Gambling Disorder: Exploring Pre-treatment and In-treatment Dropout Predictors. A UK Study

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of treatment dropout in a sample of gamblers attending a specialist clinic for gambling disorder. We analysed data on 846 treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Firstly, we investigated differences in socio-demographic and clinical variables between treatment completers and pre-treatment dropouts, as well as between treatment completers and during-treatment dropouts. Subsequently, variables were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model to identify significant predictors of pre-treatment and in-treatment dropout. Overall, 44.8% of clients did not complete the treatment: 27.4% dropped out before starting it, while 17.4% dropped out during the treatment. Younger age and use of drugs were associated with pre-treatment dropout, while family history of gambling disorder, a lower PGSI score, and being a smoker were related with in-treatment dropout. Our findings suggest that pre-treatment dropouts differ from in-treatment dropouts, and, thus, further research will benefit from considering these groups separately. In addition, this newly gained knowledge will also be helpful in increasing treatment retention in specific subgroups of problem gamblers.     

Brain Emotion Systems,Personality, Hopelessness,Self/Other Perception,and Gambling Cognition: A Structural Equation Model

The aim of this study was to explore the relations between gambling, brain emotion systems, personality, self/other perception, and hopelessness in an Italian community. Dimensions of gambling, positive and negative emotions, self/other perception, personality and hopelessness were assessed in a community sample of 235 adults aged 19–59 years. Two structural models were tested. We found a significant correlation between problem gambling and impulsivity, which in association with aggressivity and negative personality dimensions may help explain the psychopathology factor, i.e. a latent variable involving neurotic personality, hopelessness, high sensation seeking, low metacognitive responsiveness, and disorganized patterns of interpersonal relationships. These results contribute to develop a theoretical framework of gambling in relation with personality factors and provide a new approach for clinical intervention of problem gambling that relies on a solid multidimensional perspective.     

Physically disabled women and sexual identity: a PhotoVoice study

The issue of sexuality for young disabled women is not often talked about in society. Our study aimed to explore four young physically disabled women’s experiences and perspectives regarding sexuality and disability. We used PhotoVoice, a participatory action research method which uses photographs, to capture and convey our participants’ concerns. Through their photographs they showed that everyday interactions with others, particularly strangers or meeting people for the first time, were made difficult by how they were always seen as having a disability. Other parts of their identity were not recognised. The change the young women wanted was for people to see them as young women and not just as disabled.     

Correlates of women's sexual assault disclosure to informal and formal support sources

Deciding which people to tell about sexual assault is an important and potentially consequential decision for sexual assault survivors. Women typically receive many different positive and negative reactions when they disclose sexual assault to social support sources. A diverse sample of adult sexual assault survivors in the Chicago area was surveyed about sexual assault experiences, social reactions received when disclosing assault to others, attributions of blame, coping strategies, and PTSD. Analyses were run to identify demographic, assault, and postassault factors differentiating women disclosing to informal support sources only from those disclosing to both informal and formal support sources. Women disclosing to both formal and informal support sources experienced more stereotypical assaults, had more PTSD symptoms, engaged in less behavioral self-blame, and received more negative social reactions than those disclosing to informal support sources only. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed.     

Impulsivity and Gambling Type Among Treatment-Seeking Disordered Gamblers: An Explorative Study

Several studies have found that certain traits of impulsivity are associated with gambling disorder, and influence its severity. Furthermore, it has been suggested that some forms of gambling, particularly electronic gambling machines, are particularly widespread among pathological gamblers. In the present, exploratory study, we aim to clarify the role played by impulsivity in influencing the choice of specific gambling activities, by examining the relation between individual dimensions of impulsivity, and the choice of specific gambling activities in a clinical population. 100 consecutively admitted pathological gamblers at the National Problem Gambling Clinic in London (UK) in 2014 were administered the UPPS-P and BIS-11 impulsivity questionnaires, the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and underwent a structured interview concerning their gambling activities in the month and year prior to assessment. The correlation between individual gambling activities and impulsivity dimensions was analyzed both at a bivariate level, and using logistic regression. We found a significant correlation between Negative Urgency, Motor impulsivity and low-stakes machine gambling on multivariate analysis. Negative urgency (i.e. the tendency to act impulsively in response to negative affect), and Motor impulsivity (a tendency to rash action and restlessness) might be mediating factors in the choice of electronic gambling machines, particularly among patients whose gambling is escape-oriented. Structural and situational characteristics of gambling machines, particularly the widespread availability of low-stakes—rather than high-stakes—gaming machines, might concur to the choice of this form of gambling among individuals who present higher negative urgency and restlessness.     

Body Representation in the First Year of Life

Like faces, bodies are significant sources of social information. However, research suggests that infants do not develop body representation (i.e., knowledge about typical human bodies) until the second year of life, although they are sensitive to facial information much earlier. Yet, previous research only examined whether infants are sensitive to the typical arrangement of body parts. We examined whether younger infants have body knowledge of a different kind, namely the relative size of body parts. Five‐ and 9‐month‐old infants were tested for their preference between a normal versus a proportionally distorted body. Nine‐month‐olds exhibited a preference for the normal body when images were presented upright but not when they were inverted. Five‐month‐olds failed to exhibit a preference in either condition. These results indicate that infants have knowledge about human bodies by the second half of the first year of life. Moreover, given that better performance on upright than on inverted stimuli has been tied to expertise, the fact that older infants exhibited an inversion effect with body images indicates that at least some level of expertise in body processing develops by 9 months of age.