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
This 33-month retrospective case report explores the impact of psilocybin truffle intake on the emergence (and persistence) of mental imagery in an autistic woman with aphantasia. Aphantasia refers to the inability to generate visual mental images, which can significantly affect individuals' experiences and cognitive processes.
The case study focuses on a 34-year-old autistic woman who had been living with aphantasia since childhood. After consuming psilocybin truffles, she reported experiencing vivid mental imagery for the first time, with the ability to manipulate and explore images in her mind. The effects persisted even after the psychedelic effects of psilocybin subsided. To document this change, she completed the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire at several timepoints. Retrospectively, she reported a baseline score of 16 (pre-intake) and a post-intake score of 80. A contemporaneous follow-up conducted 12 months later revealed a score of 59, and a subsequent assessment at 33 months showed a further increase to 68, slightly above the population average.
The findings align with previous research on the effects of psilocybin on brain connectivity, neuroplasticity, and visual processing. The case report highlights the potential of psilocybin to modulate mental imagery in individuals with (putatively congenital) aphantasia and suggests avenues for further research. Moreover, it raises questions about the classification and pathologization of aphantasia, encouraging a shift toward recognizing cognitive diversity rather than pathologizing neurocognitive differences.
Abstract
Background and aims
In recent years, there has been increasing attention on the potential for psychedelic-assisted therapies to be used in healthcare. However, the turbulent history of psychedelics challenges its implementation and concerns about cultural safety, equity, and diversity in research remain unresolved. In Āotearoa New Zealand, Pasifika populations face significant health disparities. Accordingly, New Zealand's Health Research Strategy calls for strategic research prioritisation that produces equitable outcomes for Pasifika peoples. This study endeavoured to proactively inform equitable future applications of psychedelic-assisted therapy for Pasifika communities.
Methods
The study used quantitative cross-sectional surveys (n = 106) followed by in-depth qualitative interviews (n = 15) to understand the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and perspectives of Pasifika healthcare professionals regarding psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Results
Despite low awareness, participants supported further research in the area, believed that psychedelic-assisted therapy offers potential benefits, and prioritised consideration of spiritual and Indigenous elements. Openness to psychedelic-assisted therapy was associated with awareness and ethnic identity but was hindered by strong religious or spiritual beliefs, prior research roles, or having treated anxiety/depression in their professional roles. Qualitative insights corroborated these findings, revealing openness to research despite cultural and religious concerns, driven by inadequate mental health treatments, especially for Pasifika communities, but impeded by insufficient information on psychedelic therapy's efficacy.
Conclusions
Acceptability and culturally safe psychedelic treatment protocols for Indigenous populations require educating healthcare providers and co-designing with such communities, including religious and spiritual leaders.
Abstract
Background and Aims
Parental mental health has been identified as a risk factor for adolescent gaming disorder (GD). However, the association of parents' affective states and emotion regulation with adolescents' gaming behaviors and susceptibility to problematic gaming remains underexplored. This pilot study examined the associations between parents' daily affect intensity and fluctuations and their adolescent children's time spent gaming, using a dyadic ecological momentary assessment (EMA) approach. The study also investigated the relationship of parental emotion regulation with adolescents' risk of GD and explored factors influencing compliance with EMA.
Methods
Data were collected from 64 parent-child dyads in Hong Kong through a pre-EMA survey, a 14-day EMA, and a post-EMA survey.
Results
The pre- and post-EMA data revealed that adolescents were at higher risk of developing GD when their parents reported greater difficulties with emotion regulation. The EMA data revealed that adolescents spent more time gaming when their parents experienced greater intensity and fluctuations in their daily negative affect but not positive affect. The study achieved an average compliance rate exceeding 85% among parents and adolescents. Parent-child dyads were more likely to respond to EMA prompts when they were physically together or when they completed the prompts at the same time. In contrast, negative affect was associated with lower compliance rates.
Discussion and Conclusions
This study provides preliminary evidence on the association between parents' emotional states and adolescents' gaming duration in parent-child dyads' daily contexts and offers findings that support the feasibility of using EMA in family and GD research.
Abstract
Background and aims
Gambling Disorder (GD) is associated with maladaptive decision-making, possibly driven by biases in learning and confidence judgments. While prior research report abnormal learning rates and heightened overconfidence in GD, the affected cognitive mechanism producing these joint deficits has so far remained unidentified. Our study aims to fill this gap using a recently established reinforcement learning (RL) experimental and computational framework linking learning processes, outcome-valence effects and confidence judgments.
Methods
We pre-registered and tested the hypotheses that GD patients exhibit increased (over)confidence and confirmatory learning bias, and increased outcome valence effects on choice accuracy and confidence judgements in in 18 participants with GD and 19 matched controls.
Results
While our findings replicated the main behavioral patterns of choices and confidence judgments, and confirmed their computational foundations, we did not find any group differences between the controls and patients with GD.
Discussion and Conclusions
The current findings speak to the inconsistent findings of abnormalities in confidence and learning in GD. Systematic research is necessary to better understand the influence of possibly mediating factors such as disorder-related idiosyncrasies (e.g. skill- vs chance-based preferences) to further clarify if, when and how confidence and learning are affected in people with GD.
Abstract
Background and aims
Individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) exhibit a heightened reward responsiveness to gaming-related rewards, alongside a diminished response to natural rewards. However, the temporal dynamics and neural correlates underlying this imbalanced processing remain unclear.
Methods
This electrophysiological study investigated the neural responses associated with reward processing and their relationship to self-reported reward responsiveness. Using an Incentive Delay Task, we compared neural responses to gaming and monetary rewards between 25 IGD participants and 32 recreational game users (RGUs). Self-reported reward responsiveness was assessed with the Behavioral Approach/Inhibition System (BAS/BIS) scales.
Results
The IGD group scored higher on the BAS-responsiveness subscale. Correlation analysis indicated that enhanced BAS-responsiveness was associated with automatic attention (N1) to gaming feedback, but not with feedback monitoring (FRN) or emotional arousal (LPP). No such correlation was found in the monetary condition. Following initial automatic attention, the IGD group demonstrated selective feedback monitoring (FRN) for gaming rewards while neglecting monetary feedback.
Discussion and Conclusions
Gaming stimuli automatically capture the attention of individuals with IGD, triggering less top-down monitoring of other potential positive feedback. These findings suggest that attentional bias toward game-related stimuli serves as a sensitive biological marker of heightened reward responsiveness in individuals with IGD.
Abstract
Background
Problematic use of online pornography is considered a hallmark symptom of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD), but the role of other digisexual behaviors in CSBD remains largely unknown. Digisexuality encompasses a range of technologies mediating sexuality, such as online pornography and sexting (first-wave digisexualities), and simulating sexuality, such as virtual reality (VR-)pornography and highly realistic sex dolls/robots (second-wave digisexualities). The prevalence of these evolving behaviors across different generations and the relation to CSBD is still unclear.
Method
We conducted an online survey in 2023 with a sample of N = 3,564 individuals from Germany, selected to represent the German population by age, gender and regional distribution. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and frequency of digisexual behaviors and their relationship with CSB assessed with the CSBD-19 scale.
Results
First-wave digisexualities showed prevalences ranging from 19% (sexting erotic pictures) to 66.1% (pornography consumption). Second-wave digisexualities showed lower prevalences, with 5.3% for VR-pornography use and 3.9% for the use of highly realistic sex dolls/robots. Emerging and technologically advanced digisexualities were predominantly reported by younger generations. Additionally, all surveyed digisexualities showed medium ( r = 0.308; pornography use) to strong ( r = 0.529; casual sex via dating apps) correlations with CSBD-19 scores.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that interventions and research for CSBD need to extend beyond online pornography and include a broader range of digisexual behaviors. As technologized sexual practices continue to evolve, new opportunities and challenges arise, underscoring the need for future research and tailored therapeutic approaches to address potential risks.
Abstract
Background & aims
This conceptual paper explores the intersection of attachment theory, psychedelic research, and enculturation dynamics. We aim to understand how both attachment patterns and psychedelic use may jointly influence worldview transformations and enculturation processes.
Methods
We synthesize theoretical perspectives and empirical findings from multiple fields, including attachment-religion research in the psychology of religion, anthropological research on Ayahuasca use in shamanic tourism contexts, and preliminary attachment-psychedelics research.
Results
Our synthesis suggests that both attachment and psychedelics play an interacting role in facilitating enculturation and worldview transformations. This may be due to common mechanisms, including heightened epistemic trust at the psychological level and heightened serotonin 2a receptor-binding and associated hyper-plastic states at the neural level.
Conclusions
We outline future research directions and emphasize the ethical considerations that arise from these findings, particularly in the design and implementation of psychedelic-assisted therapies and cross-cultural psychedelic research.
Abstract
Background and aims
Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder (CBSD) is linked to disordered eating behaviors (DEB) and body image (BI) concerns, sharing traits like impulsivity and low self-control. Societal pressures and idealized body standards exacerbate body dissatisfaction, which may drive individuals toward buying/shopping or DEB as coping strategies. This review aims to clarify these connections, including from a gender-sensitive perspective.
Methods
This systematic review was pre-registered (PROSPERO CRD42023489555) and followed PRISMA guidelines. A search was conducted across PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed MEDLINE, and Scopus. Study quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Studies.
Results
CBSD is often associated with DEB regardless of gender, particularly binge-eating disorder. Women are more affected by CBSD than men, with higher rates of comorbid bulimia nervosa, and they experience greater psychological distress. Several studies found that CBSD and DEB are often linked through maladaptive coping strategies. Body dissatisfaction is consistently identified as a key predictor of CBSD, which may serve as a coping mechanism for emotional distress.
Discussion and Conclusions
Gender differences were analyzed in only 14 studies, limiting the generalizability of the findings. A significant gap in research on sexual and/or gender minorities (SGM) is highlighted. This gap is crucial to address, as SGM individuals often face unique stressors (e.g., social stigma) that may influence their mental health and coping behaviors differently than cisgender/heterosexual individuals. Future research should focus on more diverse, longitudinal studies.
Abstract
Background
Abnormal striatal cue reactivity is one of the neurobiological hallmarks of substance use disorders (SUDs). Cue reactivity is associated with relapse, prompting efforts to target its underlying mechanisms with therapeutic interventions. However, the neural correlates of cue reactivity in behavioral addictions, such as gambling disorder (GD), remain poorly understood. Here we investigated striatal cue reactivity and its associations with neurotransmitters in individuals with GD using multimodal neuroimaging.
Methods
Thirteen subjects with GD and 16 healthy controls (HC) underwent fMRI using a block-design consisting of three different types of visual stimuli: gambling-related, erotic, and neutral videos. The subjects also underwent brain PET imaging with three radiotracers to assess dopamine ([18F]FDOPA), opioid ([11C]carfentanil) and serotonin ([11C]MADAM) function.
Results
GD subjects showed a significantly greater BOLD response in the dorsal striatum compared to HC when viewing gambling-related versus neutral videos (pFWE<0.05). Enhanced cue-reactivity was specific to gambling, as there were no significant differences between the groups with natural reward cues (erotic vs. neutral videos). The dorsal and ventral striatum BOLD responses to gambling videos were coupled in HC (r = 0.7, p = 0.003) but not in GD (r = −0.1, p = 0.75; group difference p = 0.008). In GD, dorsal striatal BOLD response to gambling cues correlated with [11C]carfentanil, but not with [18F]FDOPA or [11C]MADAM, binding (r = 0.8, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
GD is characterized by increased gambling cue-induced activity in the dorsal striatum, which is linked to mu-opioid receptor availability. The findings highlight the potential role of the mu-opioid system in mediating cue-reactivity in behavioral addictions.
Abstract
Background and Aims
To analyze the bidirectional associations between smartphone multitasking and anxiety symptoms among college students.
Methods
A prospective cohort study was conducted from October 2021 to May 2022. Smartphone multitasking and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Assessment of Smartphone Multitasking for Adolescents and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 items, respectively. Linear regression models were used to analyze the associations between smartphone multitasking and anxiety symptoms among college students. Autoregressive cross⁃lagged models (ARCLM) were used to analyze the bidirectional associations between smartphone multitasking and anxiety symptoms among college students.
Results
A total of 953 college students were included in this study, 323 (33.9%) of whom were males. The mean age of participants at baseline was 18.89 ± 1.33 years. The rates of depressive symptoms among college students were 28.1% at baseline and 29.0% at 6-month follow-up, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed significant positive correlations between all zero-level variables (p < 0.01). Linear regression analyses showed that after adjusting for demographic characteristics and health risk behaviors, smartphone multitasking was still positively correlated to anxiety symptoms at baseline (β = 1.30, 95%CI: 0.54–2.05) and 6-month follow-up (β = 0.84, 95%CI: 0.32–1.37). The results of ARCLM showed that smartphone multitasking at baseline was positively correlated with anxiety symptoms after 6-month (β = 0.03, p < 0.01), but anxiety symptoms at baseline did not significantly correlate to smartphone multitasking after 6-month among college students (β = 0.04, p = 0.51).
Discussion and Conclusions
Smartphone multitasking is associated with higher anxiety symptoms at baseline and follow-up, but no bidirectional relationship exists. Reducing smartphone use may improve mental wellbeing.
