Browse Our Latest Psychology and Behavioral Science Journals
Psychological journals are peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journals that publish original work in some areas of psychology. The most common publications include cognitive, health and clinical psychology, applied, developmental, biological, social, experimental, and educational psychology, and psychoanalysis.
Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Introduction
Traumatic life events (TLE) and difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) can be considered risk factors for the development of gambling disorder in adolescents and young adults.
Methods
The aim of the present study was to examine the differences in TLE, ER strategies, positive and negative affect, and gambling severity in a clinical sample of individuals undergoing treatment for gambling disorder (92.8% males; Mage = 24.83, SD = 3.80) and a healthy control group (52.4% males; Mage = 15.65, SD = 2.22). The relationship between the variables was assessed and the mediating role of ER in the relationship between TLE and gambling in the clinical sample was analysed.
Results
The results showed higher scores in gambling severity, positive and negative affect, ER strategies and TLE in the clinical sample. In addition, the severity of gambling was positively correlated with TLE, negative affect and with rumination. TLE were also correlated positively with negative and positive affect, rumination ER strategies, plan focus, positive reinterpretation, and catastrophizing. Finally, rumination mediated the relationship between TLE and gambling severity.
Conclusions
These findings may have relevant implications for the prevention, understanding and treatment of gambling disorder.
Abstract
Background and aims
COVID-19 resulted in the shutdown of almost all sporting competitions and most venue-based gambling opportunities. This study examines how wagering operators in Australia responded, by examining their advertising.
Methods
The study compared Twitter activity during lockdown (March–May 2020) to the previous year for four major wagering operators.
Results
Wagering operators continued to advertise in earnest, changing their marketing mix to include more race betting content, as races continued to operate. Most also promoted the only sports available, such as table tennis or esports. When sports resumed, sports betting advertising quickly returned to normal, or exceeded previous levels. Despite more content being available in the case of two operators, engagement from the public during lockdown was similar to or lower than previously.
Discussion and conclusion
These results indicate that gambling operators can adjust quickly to major changes. These shifts appear to have been successful, with the increase in race betting during this period almost completely offsetting the decreases in sports betting. This is likely due in part to changes in advertising, which have been associated with increased betting activity, particularly amongst vulnerable people. Responsible gambling messages were virtually non-existent on Twitter, which contrasts with mandatory requirements in other media. The study highlights that regulatory changes to advertising, e.g., banning some content, are likely to be met with substitution of content, rather than reduction, unless advertising volume is also capped. The study also highlights the adaptive capacity of the gambling industry in the face of major disruption to supply.
Abstract
Background
Despite recent research linking lifetime classic psychedelic use to positive mental health outcomes, little work has explored the role played by classic psychedelics in healthy users' ability to cope with ordinary, yet stressful, life situations.
Aims
This study begins to fill this gap by exploring whether lifetime classic psychedelic use is associated with attenuated or exacerbated psychological distress in unemployed job seekers.
Methods
Drawing on openly-available data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2013–2019) on 208,136 adults in the United States, this study tests whether lifetime classic psychedelic use interacts with employment status to predict differences in respondents' psychological distress experienced in the last 30 days.
Results
After adjusting for sociodemographics, health factors, and other substance use, unemployed job seekers with lifetime classic psychedelic use are found to report greater psychological distress relative to unemployed job seekers without lifetime psychedelic use. No differences in psychological distress based on lifetime classic psychedelic use were found in employed individuals.
Conclusion
This study suggests that lifetime classic psychedelic use (of indoleamines specifically) may exacerbate stressful phases of life and provides context to previous studies linking lifetime classic psychedelic use to predominantly positive mental health outcomes in healthy populations.
Declaration of interest/funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Furthermore, the author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
Abstract
Background and aims
Many new digital gambling-like activities such as loot boxes, esports betting, skin betting, and token wagering have recently emerged and grown in popularity. This scoping review aimed to: (a) synthesize the existing empirical research literature on gambling-like activities and their associations with gambling and video gaming behaviors, including problem gambling and video gaming; (b) identify sociodemographic, psychological, and motivational factors associated with engagement in gambling-like activities; and (c) identify research gaps and areas for further research.
Methods
A systematic search of Ovid, Embsco, and ProQuest databases and Google Scholar was conducted in May 2021 and last updated in February 2022. The search yielded a total of 2,437 articles. Articles were included in the review if they were empirical studies that contained quantitative or qualitative results regarding the relationship between gambling-like activities and gambling or gaming.
Results
Thirty-eight articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Overall, the review results suggest that all forms of gambling-like activities were positively associated with gambling and gaming with small to medium effects. Gambling-like activity participation was also positively associated with mental distress and impulsivity. Gaps identified included a lack of inquiry into skin betting and token wagering, a lack of diversity in the research methods (i.e., mainly cross-sectional surveys), and a paucity of research that includes more ethnically, culturally, and geographically diverse populations.
Discussion
Longitudinal studies with more representative samples are needed to examine the causal link between gambling-like activities and gambling and video gaming.
Abstract
Background and aims
For the first time, the ICD-11 provides the diagnosis compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) that can be assigned for pornography use disorder (PUD). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PUD and associated consequences in Germany, to identify the psychotherapy demand among likely PUD (lPUD) cases and the treatment supply in different psychotherapeutic settings, to survey psychotherapists' level of expertise regarding PUD, and to identify predictors for psychotherapy demand.
Methods
Four studies were conducted: 1. Online study in the general population (n = 2070; m = 48.9%, f = 50.8%, d = 0.2%), 2. Survey among practicing psychotherapists (n = 983), 3. Survey of psychotherapists in psychotherapeutic outpatient clinics (n = 185), 4. Interviews with psychotherapeutic inpatient clinics (n = 28).
Results
The estimated prevalence of lPUD in the online study was 4.7% and men were 6.3 times more often affected than women. Compared to individuals without PUD, individuals with lPUD more often indicated negative consequences in performance-related areas. Among lPUD cases, 51.2% of men and 64.3% of women were interested in a specialized PUD treatment. Psychotherapists reported 1.2%–2.9% of lPUD cases among their patients. 43.2%–61.5% of psychotherapists stated to be poorly informed about PUD. Only 7% of psychotherapeutic inpatient clinics provided specific treatments to patients with PUD. While, among other factors, negative consequences attributed to lPUD were predictive for psychotherapy demand, weekly pornography consumption, subjective well-being, and religious attachment were not.
Discussion and conclusions
Although PUD occurs quite often in Germany, availability of mental health care services for PUD is poor. Specific PUD treatments are urgently needed.
Abstract
Background and aims
Dysfunction of the striatum, a brain region part of the mesolimbic reward system, is a key characteristic of addictive disorders, but neuroimaging studies have reported conflicting findings. An integrative model of addiction points to the presence or absence of addiction-related cues as an explanation for hyper- or hypoactivation, respectively, of the striatum.
Methods
To test this model directly, we investigated striatal activation during monetary reward anticipation in the presence versus absence of addiction-related cues using functional MRI. Across two studies, we compared 46 alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients with 30 matched healthy controls; and 24 gambling disorder (GD) patients with 22 matched healthy controls.
Results
During monetary reward anticipation, hypoactivation of the reward system was seen in AUD individuals compared to HCs. Additionally, a behavioral interaction was seen where gambling cues made participants, across groups, respond faster for bigger, but slower for smaller rewards. However, no striatal differences were seen in response to addiction-related cues between AUD or GD patients and their matched controls. Finally, despite substantial individual differences in neural activity to cue-reactivity and reward anticipation, these measures did not correlate, suggesting that they contribute independently to addiction aetiology.
Discussion and Conclusions
Our findings replicate previous findings of blunted striatal activity during monetary reward anticipation in alcohol use disorder but do not support the idea that addiction-related cues explain striatal dysfunction as suggested by the model.
„Aki keres, az talál?” – A szándékértelmezés szerepe a 36 hónapos gyerekek modellalapú keresési teljesítményében
‘He Who Seeks, Shall Find?’ – The role of intentionality in 36-months performance in the replica-based retrieval task
Háttér és célkitűzések
A vizuális szimbólumok jelentős szerepet játszanak mindennapi életünkben, mivel az indirekt tanulás fontos támogatói. Ahhoz, hogy gazdagodhassunk a szimbólum hordozta információból, értenünk kell szimbólum és referense szimbolikus kapcsolatát, ami hároméves kor előtt nem magától értetődő. Jelen kutatás célja a vizuális szimbólummegértés közvetítő mechanizmusának azonosítása, és ezen keresztül a kisgyermekek vizuális szimbólummegértésének facilitálása volt a gyerekek számára kevéssé ismerős háromdimenziós vizuális szimbólumok esetében.
Módszer
Kutatásunkban harminckét hároméves vett részt véletlenszerűen kísérleti és kontroll feltételbe sorolva. A szorosan illesztett személyek közti elrendezést alkalmazó kísérlet lehetővé tette, hogy a két feltételben alkalmazott procedúra különbségét a szimbólumértés feltételezett közvetítő mechanizmusára korlátozzuk. Ez a különbség a manipulációs fázis során alkalmazott szimbólumok eredetében volt. Míg a kísérleti feltételben használt vizuális szimbólumokat a felnőtt szándékosan hozta létre (társas eredet), a kontroll feltételben véletlenül talált rá az előre elkészített tárgyakra (társas eredet hiánya). Ezt követően minden résztvevő ugyanabban a manipulációs fázistól független modellalapú keresési helyzetben vett részt, ahol az alkalmazott szimbólumok eredetéről már nem állt rendelkezésre információ.
Eredmények
A két feltétel résztvevőinek szimbólumalapú keresési teljesítményét Mann–Whitney-próbával összehasonlítva szignifikáns, nagy hatáserősségű különbség igazolódott a kísérleti feltétel javára, U = 77, p = 0,04, η 2 = 0,14. Vagyis, ha hozzáférhetővé tesszük a szimbólum-létrehozás társas eredetét, jobb teljesítményt eredményez a modellalapú keresési feladat során.
Következtetések
A szimbólummegértés és -használat hatékonyan facilitálható, ha a háromévesek rövid tapasztalatot szerezhetnek a szimbólum-létrehozás társas eredetéről. E tapasztalat hatására sikeresebben használják fel a szimbólum hordozta információt egy problémamegoldási helyzetben. Vagyis képesek tapasztalatukat általánosítani olyan szimbólumokra, melyek társas eredete nem hozzáférhető.
Abstract
The practice of praxis involves engaging in learning with an active awareness of the developmental process as it occurs. Although self-regulation assists in self-directed learning, heutagogy and engaging with praxis are not independent of collaboration and connection with others. Beside the strategic mental and physical aspects of learning, a person's affective states and processes impact their engagement and achievement. Outside the formal framework of education, finding a way to support learning through collective engagement can be a challenge. This study explores an experimental community-based innovation to facilitate deep learning in an informal setting amongst a diverse group of creative adults. An online platform, YapNet, was created to address the gap for people to engage with praxis through a self-directed, interdisciplinary network that encouraged deep learning through critical, respectful feedback. Individuals shared incomplete professional work in progress on the platform, noticed and responded to one another through dialogic commentary. The benefits of this engagement are demonstrated through case studies, of a musician and of a writer. The learning demonstrated by these professionals is discussed and the core principles of YapNet are outlined for transferable use in other social and professional settings.
Az önkritikus perfekcionizmus mint mentális betegségtünet és nem szuicidális önsértés prediktor kamaszok körében
Self-critical perfectionism as a key component in predicting mental illness symptoms and nonsuicidal self-injury among adolescents
Háttér és célkitűzések
A diszpozicionális perfekcionizmus többdimenziós jelenség, mely a személy önmagával szemben állított magas sztenderdjei (perfekcionista törekvések) mellett irreális elvárásokat (perfekcionista aggodalmak) is magában foglalhat. Azt, hogy a személyiségműködésben a perfekcionizmus egészséges vagy maladaptív, önkritikus vonulata a meghatározó, a két perfekcionizmuskomponens aránya határozza meg. Utóbbit különböző pszichopatológiai jelenségek rizikó- és fenntartó faktoraként tartják számon. Kutatásunk célja nem klinikai kamaszpopulációban a multidimenzionális perfekcionizmus különböző mentális egészségmutatókkal (pl. pszichés tünetek, nem szuicidális önsértés) való összefüggéseinek feltárása volt.
Módszer
Vizsgálatunkban 1015 középiskolás (66,1% lány; átlagéletkor 16,81 év; szórás = 1,42) vett részt. A perfekcionizmus komponenseit a Majdnem Tökéletes Skála rövid változatával, az önsértő viselkedést az Állítások az Önsértés Kapcsán Kérdőívvel mértük fel. A pszichés tüneteket a Képességek és Nehézségek Kérdőívvel, míg a mentális jóllétet a Serdülő Mentális Egészség Kontinuum Skála rövid változatával térképeztük fel.
Eredmények
Az önkritikus perfekcionista csoportba sorolható tanulók jelzik a legrosszabb mentális állapotot, körükben a legmagasabb – közel 50% – az aktuális önsértők aránya. Többszörös lineáris és multinomiális regressziós modelleken alapulva rámutattunk, hogy az önkritikus perfekcionizmus jelenléte növeli, míg az adaptív perfekcionista hozzáállás csökkenti mind a mentális betegség tünetszámot, mind az egy hónapon belüli önsértés esélyét. A látens klaszterezéssel azonosított önsértő csoportok közül a Súlyos önsértők csoportjában a legmarkánsabb az önkritikus perfekcionista hozzáállás és a legalacsonyabb a szubjektív jóllét.
Következtetések
Hazai középiskolás mintában is megerősítést nyert, hogy a perfekcionizmus önkritikus komponense rizikófaktorként határozható meg a rosszabb lelki egészségmutatók, kiemelten a nem szuicidális önsértés tekintetében. Az összefüggések alapján a mentális egészség szűrésében és fejlesztésében iskolai közegben is megfontolandó a tanulók perfekcionizmusjellemzőinek azonosítása.
Abstract
In recent decades, there have been growing expectations for language teachers to use differentiated instruction (DI) in their classrooms to address the diverse needs of their students. Currently, however, relatively little is known about how teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) working in Hungarian public education view the concept of DI and implement it in practice. The present study sought to explore this question by interviewing eight Hungarian primary and secondary school EFL teachers on their views and practices of DI. More specifically, the study strove to explore the participants' understanding of and attitude towards DI as well as the differentiation strategies they report to use and the challenges and enablers they perceive when implementing DI. The data were subjected to template analysis. Results suggest that teachers have a solid understanding of the goals of DI and show a primarily positive attitude towards the approach but are less conscious about the strategies available to them and tend to differentiate mostly intuitively. They perceive challenges both in planning and delivering differentiated lessons, such as coping with increased preparation time and having to multitask in class. Exchanging good practices in formal and informal training sessions, cooperating with colleagues and parents, and having rearrangeable furniture and digital tools in the classrooms emerged as enablers of DI. Implications point toward the need for professional development opportunities that help teachers conceptualize their intuitive approaches and extend their repertoire of DI strategies. Researching how technology may enhance DI practices also appears to be warranted.
