Knowledge Of Adverse Consequences Research Articles

Motivations of Drinking or Abstaining from Alcohol

Background: Alcohol consumption at young age can lead to various negative medical and social consequences for college students. There are various motivations for students to consume alcohol. Few studies have been done to find out the motivations of students who prefer to stay abstinent from alcohol. Understanding the motivations of drinking and abstinence would help designing various preventive therapeutic programs for alcohol abstinence. Objectives: The objectives of the study were as follows: (1) to find the most prominent motivations for alcohol consumption and abstinence in students, (2) to compare the motivations for alcohol consumption and abstinence according to gender, and (3) to compare the motivations of students who did not ever consume alcohol with students who are abstinent for 6 months. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study. Second-year undergraduate students of medical, engineering, and fine arts colleges who consented for the study were asked to fill pro forma about the pattern of alcohol consumption revealing the details of only age and gender. Depending on response about the last consumption of alcohol, the students were asked to fill either four-factor motivational model questionnaire for those who had consumed alcohol in the past 6 months or motivation for abstaining from alcohol questionnaire for students who had never consumed alcohol or were completely abstinent for the past 6 months. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using two independent sample tests was used. Results: Out of total sample of 224 students from the 3 colleges, 80 students who reported to have consumed alcohol in the past 6 months filled the four-factor motivational model questionnaire. One hundred and forty-four students who did not ever consume alcohol or were abstinent from the past 6 months filled the motivation for abstaining from alcohol questionnaire. Social and enhancement motives were most common in students consuming alcohol. Male students had more enhancement motivation than females. Among motivations to stay abstinent, fear of negative consequences of alcohol, indifference, and family constraints were the most common motives. Male students had significant fear of negative consequences and family constraints than female students. Fear of negative consequences, dispositional risk, and family constraints were significant motivations in students having alcohol abstinence for 6 months than those students who had never consumed alcohol. Conclusion: Positive motivations for alcohol consumption are predominant in college students. Knowledge of adverse consequences and family constraints play an important role in deterring students from alcohol consumption.

Symposium

Introduction:Several behaviours produce short-term reward that may engender persistent behaviour despite knowledge of adverse consequences, i.e., diminished control over the behaviour. These disorders have historically been conceptualized in several ways, currently being considered as non-substance or “behavioural” addictions.Discussion:Several behavioral addictions have been hypothesized as having similarities to substance addictions. Most behavioural addictions refer to the activities that are a part of normal, everyday life. However, if they continue beyond the point of relevance such that the daily functioning of life is affected, they account to behavioural addictions. These include internet addiction, sex addiction, exercise addiction, food addiction, gadget addiction etc. There appears to be an excessive conceptual heterogeneity within behavioural addictions. High prevalence rate of psychiatric co-morbidities such as depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, and substance use has been found in association with behavioural addictions.Proper identification and evaluation of behavioural addictions has substantial implications for the development of improved prevention and treatment strategies.

Food preferences and YFAS/YFAS-C scores in schoolchildren and university students.

Food addiction (FA) is one of the causes of widespread obesity in modern society. It was shown that there is an age-associated increase in incidence rate of FA in adolescents/young adults. The purpose of this study was to analyze food preferences in schoolchildren and university students with FA. High school and university students (N = 1607; age: 17.8 ± 2.7years; girls: 77.0%) located in four settlements of Russia anonymously took part in the study. Study participants provided personal data (age, sex, height, and weight) and completed the Yale Food Addiction Scale, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Munich ChronoType Questionnaire. In addition, they indicated food products with which they had problems. The frequency of detection of FA among university students was twice as high as among schoolchildren. University students with FA were 20.2% more likely than schoolchildren to report the symptom 'use continues despite knowledge of adverse consequences,' and 13.7% more likely to report the symptom 'tolerance.' Schoolchildren and university students with FA most often noted that foods high in sugar and fat were problematic. University students with FA also reported that foods with a high carbohydrate content were problematic. In university students with FA, in comparison with schoolchildren with FA, there is an increase in list of problematic food products, mainly due to products with a high carbohydrate content. Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Food addiction relations to depression and anxiety in Egyptian adolescents

IntroductionFood addiction (FA) is a recent term used to describe craving for food in addition to functional impairment. FA has not been thoroughly studied in adolescents, so the aim of this study was to assess its presence in Egyptian adolescents and its relations to some psychiatric correlates; anxiety and depression. Subjects and methodsA cross sectional design was used. Four hundred adolescents were interviewed from the different geographic locations in Cairo to assess FA by the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS), depression by the Child Depression Inventory (CDI) scale and anxiety by the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) child version questionnaire. ResultsFA was present in 12% of the studied adolescents. Depression was present in 74 adolescents (18.5%). FA and depression coexisted in 5 subjects (10.4%). The diagnosis of anxiety was met in 38 adolescents (9.5%) and it coexisted with food addiction in only one adolescent (2%). FA scores showed moderately significant positive correlations with most of the anxiety subtypes as well as with the total score for anxiety and depression. Some FA symptomatology were significantly different between those with and without anxiety and depression. ConclusionFA exists in Egyptian adolescents and has strong associations with psychiatric comorbidities. Anxiety and depression should be evaluated in every individual with FA and vice versa as these psychiatric morbidities may be the inciting factor for the development of food addiction. Evaluation and treatment should address all the existent comorbidities. Careful attention should be paid to the presence of excess food consumption despite knowledge of adverse consequences, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms and important social or occupational activities given up or reduced because their presence coincided in this study with the presence of depression and/or anxiety which makes psychiatric evaluation more valuable.

The Addicted Human Brain: An Overview of Imaging Studies and Their Treatment Implications

Addiction is characterized by loss of control over substance use, often operationally defined as continued use of substances despite knowledge of adverse consequences. The exact cause of addiction is not known, but it’s hypothesized that both environmental and genetic factors play a crucial role in the predisposition of this disease. When an individual abruptly stops using a drug or an addictive substance, withdrawal symptoms often take place, which include vomiting, nausea, loss of appetite and depression. Not much is known about the neurobiology of addiction and treatment remains a huge challenge. Current research aims at identifying the neurological circuit of addiction as well as the key neurotransmitters and biological markers involved in this disease. In this paper, I will first begin by giving you an overview of the major substances that cause addiction as well as the most common addictive behavior patterns. Second, I will discuss the major findings that have been done using animal models of addiction, and describe in more details the role that brain imaging technology plays in improving our understanding of drug abuse. Finally, a closer look will be taken at the behavioral and pharmacological approaches frequently employed to treat addiction.

Introduction to Behavioral Addictions

Background: Several behaviors, besides psychoactive substance ingestion, produce short-term reward that may engender persistent behavior, despite knowledge of adverse consequences, i.e., diminished control over the behavior. These disorders have historically been conceptualized in several ways. One view posits these disorders as lying along an impulsive-compulsive spectrum, with some classified as impulse control disorders. An alternate, but not mutually exclusive, conceptualization considers the disorders as non-substance or “behavioral” addictions. Objectives: Inform the discussion on the relationship between psychoactive substance and behavioral addictions. Methods: We review data illustrating similarities and differences between impulse control disorders or behavioral addictions and substance addictions. This topic is particularly relevant to the optimal classification of these disorders in the forthcoming fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Results: Growing evidence suggests that behavioral addictions resemble substance addictions in many domains, including natural history, phenomenology, tolerance, comorbidity, overlapping genetic contribution, neurobiological mechanisms, and response to treatment, supporting the DSM-V Task Force proposed new category of Addiction and Related Disorders encompassing both substance use disorders and non-substance addictions. Current data suggest that this combined category may be appropriate for pathological gambling and a few other better studied behavioral addictions, e.g., Internet addiction. There is currently insufficient data to justify any classification of other proposed behavioral addictions. Conclusions and Scientific Significance: Proper categorization of behavioral addictions or impulse control disorders has substantial implications for the development of improved prevention and treatment strategies.

Is Love Passion an Addictive Disorder?

Aims: Inquiry regarding the relationship between passionate love and addiction has long been a topic of intense debate. Recent advances in neurobiology now allow for an examination between these two states. Methods: After describing the clinical distinctions between “love passion,” “love addiction,” and “sex addiction,” we compare clinical, neuropsychological, neurobiological, and neuroimaging data on love, passion, pathological gambling (PG) and substance dependence. Results: There are no recognized definitions or diagnostic criteria for “love addiction,” but its phenomenology has some similarities to substance dependence: euphoria and unrestrained desire in the presence of the love object or associated stimuli (drug intoxication); negative mood, anhedonia, and sleep disturbance when separated from the love object (drug withdrawal); focussed attention on and intrusive thoughts about the love object; and maladaptive or problematic patterns of behavior (love relation) leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, with pursuit despite knowledge of adverse consequences. Limited animal and human studies suggest that brain regions (e.g., insula, anterior cingulated [ACC], orbitofrontal [OFC]) and neurotransmitters (dopamine) that mediate substance dependence may also be involved with love addiction (as for PG). Ocytocin (OT), which is implicated in social attachment and mating behavior, may also be involved in substance dependence. There are no data on the epidemiology, genetics, co-morbidity, or treatment of love addiction. Conclusion: There are currently insufficient data to place some cases of “love passion” within a clinical disorder, such as “love addiction,” in an official diagnostic nomenclature or to firmly classify it as a behavioral addiction or disorder of impulse control. Further clinical and scientific studies are needed to improve our understanding and treatment of this condition. For these studies, we propose new criteria for evaluating addiction to love.