Compulsive Habits Research Articles

A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND INTERNET ADDICTION AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN CALICUT CITY, KERALA, INDIA

Internet use has become a crucial aspect of high school students everyday life in todays digital world. Despite all of the benefits it provides, there are risks that using the internet might foster compulsive habits. This research highlights the intricate relationship between personality traits and internet addiction among high school students studying in Calicut City in Kerala, India. The researchers examined personality traits and evaluated levels of internet addiction using standardized psychometric testing on a sample of 30 students. The Big Five Personality Questionnaire which includes extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and Youngs Internet Addiction Test has been used in this study. The study emphasizes the absence of any significant relationship between personality characteristics and internet addiction. All traits were negatively related, with one exception of the trait extraversion. The unique aspect of this study is the way it analyses personality characteristics and online addiction, particularly among high school students. The analysis offers important insights and improves our understanding of the relationship between personality traits and internet addiction. Paper Type: Empirical Research. KEYWORDS: Personality traits, Internet Addiction, Personality and Addiction, Risk factors

Challenging behavior in children and adolescents with Dravet syndrome: Exploring the lived experiences of parents

BackgroundDravet syndrome (DS) is a monogenic syndrome associated with SCN1A mutations in the majority of patients and characterized by devastating epilepsy, that may be life-threatening. Aside from refractory seizures, core symptoms of DS include behavioral difficulties, developmental delay, cognitive impairment, and motor dysfunction. Previous DS research has mainly focused on epileptic seizures and pharmacological management and less on behavioral difficulties. This study aims to explore the lived experience of parents supporting a child with DS, with a focus on behavioral aspects. MethodsWe performed a qualitative study using focus groups and following the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines. We organized three focus groups with parents of children and adults with DS and used a pre-defined topic list of open questions, similar for each focus group to ensure comparability. The focus groups were video recorded, transcribed, and anonymized. Data were analyzed using an iterative coding process where codes were sorted into themes. Differences in coding among the researchers were discussed until a consensus was reached. ResultsIn total, twenty parents (mothers only) participated in the study. The age of children with DS ranged between 3 to 22 years with a mean age of 11.8 years. A range of behavioral difficulties emerged from the thematic analysis. Overall, the most commonly mentioned behavioral difficulties were aggression, dangerous behavior, impulsivity, hyperactivity, routinized and compulsive habits. Our results showed different behavior per age group, with more externalizing behaviors such as aggression and impulsivity in children aged 3–13 years; and more internalizing behavior such as routinized and compulsive habits in adolescents and young adults (14–22 years). This results in a different kind of support these families need and should be acknowledged when in consult with a healthcare professional. Parents reported that challenging behavior was a source of stress and impacted negatively on their family’s quality of life. Parents reported feeling alone in their search for solutions, and many explored options outside the traditional medical context. ConclusionOur results suggest that the challenging behavior associated with DS leads to a huge burden of care. Healthcare professionals working with DS patients may need to develop shared decision-making strategies that take into account challenging behavior.

Self-inflicted pathological cutaneous disorders. Part II.

Self-inflicted skin disorders are artefact diseases inflicted by the use of multiple different means, for various different purposes. They account for about 2% of dermatology patient visits, and include disorders with a denied or hidden pathological behavior (factitious disorders) and disorders with a non-denied and non-hidden pathological behavior (compulsive disorders). In turn, factitious skin disorders are subdivided into 2 groups: factitious disorders without an external incentive (considered in a preceding work) and factitious disorders with external incentives. In the second eventuality, the simulator is motivated by illicit intent, wishing to evade civil duties or a prison sentence, for instance, or to exploit situations of an occupational nature, and is fully aware of his action and his intention. Apart of the two groups of pathomimic artefacts and malingering, some self-inflicted dermatoses are due to behavioral disorders involving compulsive habits (tics, psychological excoriations). The great majority of subjects suffering from the latter disturbances are quick to confess their urge to self-inflict lesions. The management, including both psychiatric and dermatological assessment, concludes this second part of the work regarding the self-inflicted cutaneous diseases.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Bad habits are notoriously hard to break. Ask any dieter, smoker or shopping addict why they continue to engage in a behavior they know is not good for them and they'll likely respond with a shrug and a look of utter helplessness, according to a June 29 news release from PsychTests AIM Inc. The problem is that whatever pleasure or comfort giving in to the habit may bring, it is short‐lived. Moreover, according to research from PsychTests.com, people who engage in such compulsive behaviors are more likely to struggle with a number of deeper emotional issues. Analyzing data collected from 12,259 people who took the Emotional Intelligence Test, PsychTests' researchers compared people who engage in compulsive habits (“habit‐engagers”) to those who don't (“habit‐resisters”). Habit‐engagers scored lower on a number of emotional intelligence competencies, including the following (note: scores range on a scale from 0 to 100): comfort with emotional situations or people (score of 47, versus 69 for habit‐resisters), emotional control (score of 39, versus 74 for habit‐resisters) and self‐motivation (score of 52, versus 77 for habit‐resisters). The PsychTests study also revealed that 59% of habit‐engagers are very sensitive to criticism (compared to 20% of habit‐resisters), 49% of habit‐engagers feel like they're on a constant emotional roller coaster (compared to 10% of habit‐resisters) and 59% of habit‐engagers are terrified of the future (compared to 18% of habit‐resisters).

Factores de riesgo en el uso problemático de Internet y del teléfono móvil en adolescentes españoles

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between maladaptive use of Internet and mobile phone and various imbalances in social skills, stress management, self-esteem and life satisfaction, and to explore differences in such uses/abuses according to socio demographic variables, such as gender and age. To do this, using a two-stage sampling of convenience with intra-group randomized downsampling, was selected 200 students (104 boys and 96 girls) aged between 12 and 17 years (M=14.34; DT=1.637) enrolled in several secondary schools in Principado de Asturias (Spain). According to the results, it has been found that the imbalances in stress management skills predict the most likely to misuse in both technologies. Also, difficulties in managing stress and lack of communication skills, predict problematic uses of Internet -related compulsive habits, self control problems and conflicts generated by feelings. It was confirmed that girls and older adolescents suffer more problems related to mobile phone use problematic. The implications of such problematic uses are discussed and abounds in the desirability of promoting prevention and psychosocial intervention.

Perspective: Behavioural addictions matter

More research, and dedicated funding, is needed to understand and successfully treat compulsive habits, says Marc Potenza.

Is impulsive violence an addiction? The Habit Hypothesis.

Impulsive violence may be the behavioral consequence of inefficient information processing within specific neuronal networks. Analogous to the hypothetical pathophysiology of addiction, maladaptations within reward pathways may shift goal-directed behaviors to impulsive reactions and then to compulsive habits, in order to create impulsive violence.

Gambling in prison: addiction or leisure activity?

Several studies conducted around the world confirm the presence of gambling in detention facilities. Based on interviews conducted with male inmates in three Canadian penitentiaries, the authors of this article studied the reasons to gamble or not gamble in detention. The inmates' relationships with gambling prior to their incarceration were taken into consideration, to explain notably the influence of context on the reasons why they do or do not gamble. For most inmates, gambling is a good recreational alternative to boredom; however, some use it also to socialize or even protect themselves indirectly. Even more interesting is the fact that, despite the presence of gambling addicts among the inmates interviewed, none of the reasons generally associated with pathological gambling was reported during the interviews to explain gambling in detention. These results reinforce the influence of contextual factors on pathological gambling problems. Anxiety-producing factors in gamblers' lives, an environment where gambling is too accessible, as well as solitary habits, are conducive to addiction. By reducing stressful elements, as well as the availability, variety and special effects of gambling games, prison would indirectly control inmates' compulsive gambling habits during their incarceration.

A Case of Pachydermodactyly

Pachydermodactyly (PDD) is a rare, benign form of digital fibromatosis and this is characterized by asymptomatic soft tissue swelling that affects the lateral aspects of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints of the fingers. Although the etiology of PDD is unknown, the possibility of repetitive minor trauma by habitual or compulsive habits of interlacing the fingers or rubbing of the fingers has been suggested as a cause by several authors. We experienced a 14-year-old boy who was diagnosed as having PDD by the clinical manifestations and this was supported by a radiological study and the routine laboratory tests. He also had the habit of repetitively manipulating his hands when feeling emotional distress. PDD sometimes can be misdiagnosed as a rheumatic condition. Although an unusual disorder, PDD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients who present with digital bulbous swelling.

Compulsive habits in restless legs syndrome patients under dopaminergic treatment

Since the introduction of levodopa therapy and dopaminergic replacement therapy to abate symptoms of idiopathic Parkinson's disease, repetitive compulsive behaviors have been reported and are now considered to be drug-related response complications. As dopamine (DA) agonists are the licensed treatment in Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a survey was conducted to determine the extent to which patients with RLS present compulsive behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between DA agonists and the occurrence of motor or behavioral compulsions, stress, depression, and sleep disturbance in RLS patients. A questionnaire was mailed three times, at four-month intervals over a period of 8 months to all patients of the Quebec Memory and Motor Skills Disorders Clinic diagnosed with RLS. In addition to recording all medication information for RLS treatment, patients were assessed on the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group Rating Scale (IRLS), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Sleep Scale from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) and on a visual analog scale for current level of stress. A section pertaining to hobby, mania, and compulsion was also included. Analyses are based on 97 out of 151 patients (64.2%) with RLS who returned the three questionnaires. Twelve patients (12.4%) on stable DA agonist therapy (average dose 0.52 ± 0.59 mg Pramipexole equivalent) developed a new compulsive behavioral repertoire. Eating (3 women, 1 man), buying food or clothes (2 women, 1 man), trichotillomania (1 woman, 1 man), and gambling (1man) were among the compulsions developed under DA treatment. In addition, two women presented new tic-like phenomena. In contrast to the RLS patients without compulsive behaviors (53 treated with DA agonist; 32 untreated), those with compulsive habits reported experiencing more stress, depression and sleep problems. Patients with RLS with mood and stress states may be at greater risk of developing compulsive behaviors while receiving standard dosage DA agonist treatment. These behaviors are clearly linked to short-term satisfaction and underline the role of dopaminergic mesolimbic stimulation in the reinforcement process of rewarding behavioral sequences.

Queratosis artefacta

Abstract—Compulsive habits in dermatology are diverse and include several conditions, such as trichotillomania, onychophagia and neurotic excoriations among others.Nine patients with a self-inflicted, compulsive condition are described. The artefact lesions were produced by the uncontrollable and repetitive habit of biting and/or rubbing the skin of localized parts of their hands or fingers. The lesions mainly consisted of hyperkeratotic nodules especially located on the dorsum of the hands or fingers. Differential diagnosis should be done with other types of callosities.

Addiction becomes a brain disease.

A question of major interest is whether the response and stimulus learning established by drugs of abuse differs in kind or merely differs in strength from the response and stimulus learning established by more natural reinforcers like food or sexual interaction. Gaetano Di Chiara (University of Cagliari) reported microdialysis comparisons of dopamine responses in nucleus accumbens and frontal cortex (sites at which drugs of abuse elevate extracellular dopamine levels) in animals receiving a highly palatable and novel food. While all three structures showed elevated dopamine in response to the food, this response habituates after a single feeding (and can remain habituated for 3 days) in the case of the shell of nucleus accumbens. There is no such habituation in the cases of medial prefrontal cortex or the core of nucleus accumbens; indeed, in these cases the first exposure to the food sensitizes the second. Microdialysis and electrophysiological studies of behaviors maintained by food reward on the one hand and drug reward on the other are directed to the question of what normal functions are accomplished by the brain circuitry that is sequestered by drugs of abuse.Perhaps the most important questions about the neuroadaptations underlying addiction remain difficult to approach experimentally. We have as yet no way to identify those synapses involved in drug-seeking habits; as a result, we have no way of differentiating them from synapses—in all likelihood neighbors of one another—involved in other habits and foraging behaviors. Thus, we have as yet no way to compare the memory traces of addiction habits with those of more natural and usually less compulsive habits. This remains as a major challenge for the next decade of addiction research.*E-mail: rwise@intra.nida.nih.gov.

Compulsive targeted self-injurious behaviour in humans with neuropathic pain: a counterpart of animal autotomy? Four case reports and literature review

Four cases of compulsive self-injurious behaviour (SIB) with variable degrees of tissue damage targeted to the painful body part are reported in humans with neuropathic pain. Review of human literature revealed several cases, primarily after central nervous system (CNS) lesions, during which non-psychotic verbally communicating humans (mostly with intact mental status) target specifically the painful part which is usually analgesic or hypoalgesic. In few instances, however, the involved part is not only sentient but also hyperalgesic in part or as a whole. The act is characterized by uncontrollable urge and compulsion, aggravated under conditions of stress, isolation, confusion or depression, and occasionally occurring in patients with personality disorders, ongoing drug abuse and pre-existing compulsive habits (i.e., habitual nail biting or picking). It fails to be deterred by the appearance of the injured part, social mores or even the experience of pain. Successful treatment of underlying painful dysesthesiae with specific medications, neurostimulation or surgery has resulted in marked improvement of dysesthesiae accompanied by wound healing in several cases. The four presented cases and the human literature experience provide evidence that compulsive targeted SIB in humans with neuropathic pain and painful dysesthesiae is consistent with the concept that animal autotomy may result from chronic neuropathic pain after experimental peripheral or CNS lesions.