Evaluation of a Physical Activity Program for Pathological Gamblers in Treatment

It has been demonstrated that craving for gambling is associated with anxiety and depression in pathological gamblers. Exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, as well as positively influence abstinence rates in individuals with substance use disorders. In this study, we examined the impact of a physical activity program in 33 pathological gamblers. We also analyzed the association between craving and plasmatic levels of stress hormones (adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol, and prolactin). The program involved eight 50-min sessions. Craving was assessed 24 h before, immediately before, and immediately after each session, as well as on a weekly basis. Before and after the program, we evaluated gambling behavior, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and plasma levels of stress hormones. We identified a significant reduction in craving following each session and at the end of the program. There was improvement in anxiety, depressive symptoms, and gambling behavior. The post-session reduction in craving was accompanied by post-program reductions in craving and anxiety but not by a post-program reduction in depressive symptoms. The craving reduction was associated with a variation in prolactin levels but not with variations in levels of cortisol or adrenocorticotropic hormone.     

Open Adoption and Post-Adoption Birth Family Contact: A Comparison of Non-Relative Foster and Private Adoptions

This study used data from the National Survey of Adoptive Parents (NSAP) to compare post-adoption contact in families with non-relative private domestic and foster care adoptions. This study is the first to use a nationally representative sample to examine and compare the extent of post-adoption contact in both private and foster adoptions. The results suggest that children adopted from foster care were less likely to experience post-adoption contact with their birth families than children adopted privately despite the fact that they were more likely to have lived with their birth families.     

Adolescents' Gender Mistrust: Variations and Implications for the Quality of Romantic Relationships

Recent research demonstrates that perceptions of gender mistrust are implicated in lower marriage rates among low-income populations. Yet few quantitative studies have examined the factors predicting gender mistrust during adolescence and whether it influences the quality of subsequent nonmarital romantic relationships. Analysis of three waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 1,106) indicates that in addition to neighborhood poverty rates, parents' own gender mistrust and parent-child relationship quality are related to adolescents' gender mistrust, suggesting that parents play an important role in influencing adolescents' developing feelings of gender mistrust. Perceptions of gender mistrust are not related to whether adolescents are involved in dating relationships, but are linked to higher levels of jealousy and verbal conflict in adolescents' subsequent romantic relationships, albeit only for male adolescents.     

Comparative Examination of Self-Perceived Health and Other Measures of the Quality of Life Across the EU-27

In various fields of research self-perceived health has been defined and analysed as a significant measure of the health-related quality of life, and also as a predictor of health status. This paper examines the determinants of self-perceived health in the EU-27 area in order to find whether a common set of governmental policies could improve the self-perceived health and whether this positive effect would remain positive and significant on other measures of the quality of life as well as across the quintiles of income distribution. A number of panel regression models using the first-difference GMM estimator are applied to comparatively examine self-perceived health together with other measures of health status and quality of life, based on Eurostat data from 2003 to 2012. The empirical results of the paper could provide useful insights for the European health policy and other common actions and policies in the field of the quality of life.