Negative Reinforcement Research Articles

Feels good, and less bad: Problematic use of the Internet is associated with heightened experiences of both gratification and compensation.

During the development of addictive behaviors, theoretical models assume a shift from experience of gratification being a driver in early stages to experience of compensation which dominates at later stages of addiction development. Initial studies show a trend in this direction; however, this shift has not yet been investigated in clinical samples. We assume experienced gratification to be highest in individuals with risky use (indicating the beginning of the addiction process), and compensation to be highest in individuals with pathological use. Data from 834 participants from a multi-center study (FOR2974) investigating specific Internet-use disorders (IUDs) including gaming, buying-shopping, pornography use, and social-network use disorders were analyzed about Experience of Gratification (EGS) and Experience of Compensation (ECS), symptom severity, use expectancies, and usage motives. A diagnostic interview based on DSM-5 criteria for gaming disorder was used to classify individuals into either non-problematic, risky, or pathological use group. The groups (non-problematic,risky, pathological) differed significantly regarding EGS and ECS. Individuals with pathological use reported highest experiences of compensation but equally high experienced gratification as individuals with risky use. Effects vary with respect to the specific behavior. All measures correlated significantly. Symptom severity was most strongly associated with facets of compensation. The experience of gratification and compensation appear to be crucial for addiction-like Internet use. Experienced gratification is already high in individuals experiencing first negative consequences and appear to be stable in individuals with pathological use indicating the relevance of both positive and negative reinforcement during the addiction processes.

Male rats choose higher doses of nicotine in anticipation of a future non-drug period.

Humans and animals use information about future access to rewards to influence their behaviour in the present, however the evidence for this is largely anecdotal. Here we use the nicotine intravenous self-administration paradigm to ask whether rats can use an auditory stimulus signalling a long (450s) signalled time-out on the next trial to influence their nicotine intake in the present. Rats were trained to choose between low (15µg/kg/infusion), medium (30µg/kg/infusion) or high (60µg/kg/infusion) doses of nicotine on any given trial. Trials either had a 'light' trial with no tone and a standard 20s post-infusion time-out, a 'short-tone' trial where a tone was presented but the time-out remained at 20s, or a 'long-tone' trial where a second tone played and was accompanied by a long 450s time-out period. During training rats clearly showed that dose selection was based on both the dose on the previous trial and the latency between infusions. When tones were presented, rats shifted their preference from the low dose to the high dose when the long-delay tone was presented, and this choice was particularly pronounced when the rat had previously selected a low dose. Together these findings are the first evidence that rats can regulate their nicotine intake in the present in anticipation of a future non-drug period. This result is discussed with respect to theories of negative reinforcement.

Emotion Regulation in the Association Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use: A Systematic Review With Narrative Synthesis

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use commonly co-occur and represent a unique clinical challenge. Current interventions show modest effect sizes and high rates of dropout highlighting the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying the PTSD-substance use association. Evidence suggests emotion regulation may be an important factor underlying this association. This systematic review aims to examine the role of emotion regulation in the association between PTSD and substance use and to provide an understanding of differences in emotion regulation based on gender, trauma type, and social factors. Systematic searches of Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, ASSIA, CINAHL, and Web of Science identified 33 studies that met the review inclusion criteria. While findings were mixed, the results largely suggest difficulties regulating negative and positive emotions are important in the PTSD-substance use association. Emotion regulation was elevated in individuals with PTSD-substance use disorder (SUD) compared to SUD only and among individuals with more severe PTSD and substance use symptoms. A small number of studies highlighted the role of emotion regulation difficulties over time and in relation to treatment outcomes. Preliminary findings suggested there may be differences in emotion regulation in PTSD-substance use based on gender, trauma type, and social factors, though this requires further examination. Limitations of the included studies include small sample sizes, cross-sectional designs, and a predominant focus on alcohol use. The findings largely support self-medication and negative reinforcement models of substance use and highlight the possible utility of integrated interventions focusing on emotion regulation for PTSD-substance use. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

Examining Longitudinal Relations Between Eating Disorder Symptoms and Negative Emotion Variability in Military Members.

Up to a third of service members and Veterans experience disordered eating. Disordered eating can be maintained through negative reinforcement of painful and unpleasant emotions such as guilt, shame, sadness, and hostility. Hostility is a negative emotion that may be particularly relevant for service members and Veterans, yet hostility's relation to disordered eating remains understudied. Further, variability in emotions may be particularly relevant, given that variability in emotions is often a stronger predictor of psychopathology than mean levels. Thus, the goal of the present study was to assess a potential bidirectional relationship between disordered eating symptoms and individuals' variability of hostility, stress, anxiety, sadness, and shame. Participants (N = 94, Mage = 32.2, 75.8% men; 81.8% White) completed 30 days of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) with four assessments per day along with baseline and follow-up measures including the Eating Pathology Symptom Interview (EPSI), which assessed eight disordered eating symptom domains. Hierarchical regressions revealed that higher baseline levels of Binge Eating and Excessive Exercise predicted greater intraindividual hostility variability. Further, more hostility variability predicted higher Cognitive Restraint at 1-month follow-up. Baseline disordered eating symptoms were not associated with intraindividual variability in stress, anxiety, sadness, or shame. However, greater intraindividual variability in shame predicted higher Muscle Building at 1-month follow-up. Hostility variability was the only emotion that was predicted by, and predictive of, disordered eating symptoms. These findings suggest that hostility may be a relevant treatment target for service members with disordered eating.

Identification of Affective- and Social-Reinforcement Functions of Driven Exercise: Evidence From Three Samples

Driven exercise is a transdiagnostic maladaptive behavior, especially common in eating disorders (EDs); however, its maintenance mechanisms remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we examined the applicability of previously empirically derived and validated reinforcement-function models in explaining driven-exercise maintenance in studies varying across developmental stages and clinical presentations (Study 1: N = 279 adolescents/adults oversampled for EDs; Study 2: N = 118 adolescent/adult inpatients with severe EDs; Study 3: N = 52 adults oversampled for athletes and/or EDs). Results supported the utility of a four-function model (automatic positive reinforcement [APR]/automatic negative reinforcement [ANR; increase positive/decrease negative affect], social positive reinforcement [SPR]/social negative reinforcement [SNR; engage in/avoid interpersonal situations]) in explaining driven exercise. APR was most frequently endorsed, followed by ANR, SNR, and SPR in all studies. APR correlated with last-month driven-exercise episodes across studies; associations between other functions and ED psychopathology varied between studies. Furthermore, results suggested a separate control function could be considered in samples with more severe EDs.

Food Choice Motives Mediate the Relationship between Delay Discounting and Binge Eating: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.

Binge eating (BE) is associated with psychological distress, functional impairment, and elevated risk of eating disorder diagnoses, and BE prevalence is increasing. Motivational and self-regulatory processes such as delay discounting may be important influences on BE; however, evidence is inconclusive, and lacks explanation of mechanisms. This study investigated how food choice motives mediate the pathway from delay discounting (DD) to BE symptomatology. Adult participants (N = 391, 80% female, mean age 38.93) completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire (DD), Food Choice Questionnaire (food choice motives), and Binge Eating Scale online. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to analyse hypothesised partially-mediated pathways from DD to BE via Health, Mood, and Sensory Appeal food choice motives, incorporating participant age, sex, BMI, and Weight Control motives. The best fitting SEM indicated steeper DD was associated with greater BE, but this effect was fully mediated by lesser endorsement of Health motives. Greater endorsement of Mood and Weight Control motives, along with female sex and higher BMI, also accompanied greater BE symptomatology. Counter to hypotheses, Mood and Sensory Appeal did not mediate the relationship between DD and BE. The novel finding that Health motives mediated the effect of DD on BE suggests steeper discounting may hinder the longer-term perspective needed to value the health attributes of food, and thus promote food intake for immediate reinforcement. The significant effects of Weight Control and Mood motives independent of DD suggest support for overvaluation of weight and shape and negative reinforcement mechanisms in the etiology of BE. Our study highlights the influence of food choice motives and DD in BE, and supports the integration of individualised motivational and neurocognitive interventions in eating disorder treatment.

The role of testosterone and cortisol levels in nonsuicidal selfinjury in adolescents.

Nonsuicidal selfinjury (NSSI) is an important problem in adolescence, which is thought to serve several reinforcement functions (positive vs. negative, automatic vs. social). While the psychological mechanisms involved in NSSI are relatively well known, there is an important gap in the knowledge regarding the underlying biological mechanisms. This study examined the role of testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) in the frequency and reinforcement functions of NSSI. A total of 423 adolescents (age range = 13-17; 54.4% girls) from Basque Country (Spain) provided saliva samples to determine T and C levels and completed measures of NSSI 6 months later in 2017-2018. The results showed that T but not C was significantly associated with higher NSSI frequency and the four types of NSSI functions. In addition, C moderated the predictive association between T and NSSI for automatic negative reinforcement, such that this association was significant only when C was high. Participant sex did not moderate any association between hormones and NSSI. These preliminary results suggest that testosterone levels can affect NSSI behaviors in adolescence, thus helping to explain the increase in NSSI during this stage. Moreover, in situations in which NSSI serves to alleviate negative internal states, high levels of cortisol can be involved.

Gambling motives and problem gambling: Exploring psychological moderators in the pathways model.

Relationships between gambling motives and problem gambling have been identified in previous research. There is, however, evidence of moderate-to-high heterogeneity in these associations, suggesting that further research is required to elucidate which gamblers are more susceptible to the influence of different types of motives. This study aims to (1) explore the relationship between gambling motives (Gambling Motives Questionnaire-Financial coping, enhancement, social, financial) and problem gambling (Problem Gambling Severity Index); and (2) investigate the degree to which psychological variables implicated by the pathways model (positive reinforcement high-risk situations, negative reinforcement high-risk situations, psychological distress, emotional dysregulation, distress intolerance and impulsivity) moderate these relationships. A convenience sample of 342 past-month gamblers (M=29.09, SD=10.39), who were mostly classified with low-risk, moderate-risk or problem gambling (90.14%), completed an online survey including an assessment of gambling motives, problem gambling, and these psychological variables. All gambling motives positively predicted problem gambling (OR = 1.18-1.59, p<0.001). In the moderation analyses, significant interaction effects were found between coping motives and lack of clarity (emotional clarity) (OR=1.05, p=0.024), all motives and distress tolerance (OR=0.95-0.96, p=< 0.001-0.006), and enhancement motives and positive urgency (OR=1.03, p=0.020). This is the first known study to use psychological variables explicated by the pathways model to moderate the relationship between gambling motives and problem gambling, with a view to explaining some of the heterogeneity in these relationships. The identification of significant interactions has clinical implications for the development of targeted prevention and intervention programs.

Caregiver-implemented intervention to increase use of positive airway pressure for adults with Down syndrome and sleep apnea.

Many individuals with Down syndrome are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a medical condition that substantially affects health and quality of life. The most common treatment for OSA is positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. Few studies have examined interventions to improve PAP therapy adherence for adults with developmental disabilities or have recruited the assistance of caregivers to improve adherence with this therapy in the home. This study evaluated the efficacy of a caregiver-implemented behavioral intervention to increase PAP use for four adults with Down syndrome and OSA. The experimenters trained caregivers via telehealth to implement the intervention in their homes. The intervention consisted of graduated exposure, noncontingent reinforcement, and differential positive and negative reinforcement without escape extinction. The intervention increased the duration of PAP use for all four participants. These results provide preliminary support for the efficacy of this intervention and service-delivery model.

Cannabis use regimens in trauma-exposed individuals: Associations with cannabis use quantity and frequency

People with trauma histories have an increased odds of cannabis use. Little is known about the frequency or consequences of different cannabis use regimens in cannabis users with trauma histories. Individuals with anxiety disorders tend to administer benzodiazepines in a pro re nata (PRN; i.e., as needed) as opposed to regularly scheduled (RS, e.g., twice daily [BID], three times daily [TID]) manner. Although physicians tend to prescribe benzodiazepines on a PRN regimen to minimize use, this regimen is paradoxically associated with greater use levels. Indeed, PRN administration regimens may increase use via negative reinforcement processes. We extended this older benzodiazepine literature to cannabis by examining regimen of cannabis use among 94 trauma-exposed cannabis users (mean age = 35.1 years; 52.1 % male; 23.4 % with cannabis prescription). Participants reported their initial and current cannabis use regimen (PRN vs. RS vs. both [‘PRN+’]) and their past month cannabis use frequency (use occasions in last month) and quantity (grams/use occasion). Consistent with patterns in benzodiazepine research, PRN (47.1 % of sample) and PRN+ (43.5 % of sample) were more common than RS regimens (9.4 % of sample). Also consistent with patterns seen with benzodiazepines, our sample moved toward PRN regimens from initial to current use: e.g., 100 % of initial RS users switched to a regimen that included PRN use. Consistent with predictions emerging from learning theory, PRN and PRN+ cannabis users reported significantly higher cannabis use frequencies compared to RS users (p’s < 0.01). Unexpectedly, there were no significant differences between cannabis use regimen groups for quantity of cannabis/occasion. While limited by their cross-sectional nature, with longitudinal replication, result may have implications for identifying cannabis use regimens that minimize frequency of use and thereby reduce risk for negative health outcomes.

Moral stories reading with internal negative reinforcement enhance children’s sharing behavior

ABSTRACT Reading moral stories is crucial for children’s moral learning and development. The present study examined the effect of features of moral stories on children’s sharing behavior. Experiment 1 which involved 153 4-year-old children and 169 6-year-old children, utilized a 2 × 2 design to examine the effect of story value of reinforcement (positive vs. negative) and source of reinforcement (internal vs. external) in stories on children’s sharing behavior of 4-year-old and 6-year-old children. Our findings indicate a notable effect of internally driven negative reinforcement on sharing behaviors among 6-year-olds, particularly when the narrative prompted a feeling of guilt within the protagonist for not sharing. However, there was no significant difference in 4-year-olds. Experiment 2 considered the children’s reflection on the consequences of their actions, involved 131 6-year-old children and compared three conditions (moral stories with internal negative reinforcement, moral dilemma stories, and controlling conditions). The results showed that children in internal negative reinforcement condition exhibited more sharing behavior. In contrast, no significant differences were found between moral dilemma stories and controlling conditions. These findings highlight that feeling guilt can promote prosocial behavior among 6-year-old children.

Persistent Threat Avoidance Following Negative Reinforcement Is Not Associated with Elevated State Anxiety.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating illness consisting of obsessions and compulsions. OCD severity and treatment response are correlated with avoidant behaviors thought be performed to alleviate obsession-related anxiety. However, little is known about either the role of avoidance in the development of OCD or the interplay between anxiety states and avoidance behaviors. We have developed an instrumental negative reinforcement (i.e., active avoidance) paradigm in which mice must lever press to avoid upcoming footshocks. We show that mice (both sexes) can learn this task with high acquisition rates (75%) and that this behavior is largely stable when introducing uncertainty and modifying task structure. Furthermore, mice continue to perform avoidance responses on trials where lever pressing is not reinforced and increase response rates as they are maintained on this paradigm. With this paradigm, we did not find a relationship between negative reinforcement history and anxiety-related behaviors in well-established anxiety assays. Finally, we performed exploratory analyses to identify candidate regions involved in well-trained negative reinforcement using expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos. We detected correlated c-Fos expression in (1) corticostriatal regions which regulate active avoidance in other paradigms and (2) amygdala circuits known to regulate conditioned defensive behaviors.

Intercalated amygdala dysfunction drives avoidance extinction deficits in the Sapap3 mouse model of obsessive-compulsive disorder

The avoidance of aversive stimuli through negative reinforcement learning is critical for survival in real-world environments, which demand dynamic responding to both positive and negative stimuli that often conflict with each other. Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) commonly exhibit impaired negative reinforcement and extinction, perhaps involving deficits in amygdala functioning. An amygdala subregion of particular interest is the intercalated nuclei of the amygdala (ITC) which has been linked to negative reinforcement and extinction, with distinct clusters mediating separate aspects of behavior. This study focuses on the dorsal ITC cluster (ITCd) and its role in negative reinforcement during a complex behavior that models real-world dynamic decision making. We investigated the impact of ITCd function on negative reinforcement and extinction by applying fiber photometry measurement of GCamp6f signals and optogenetic manipulations during a platform-mediated avoidance task in a mouse model of OCD-like behavior: the Sapap3-null mouse. We find impaired neural activity in the ITCd of male and female Sapap3-null mice to the encoding of negative stimuli during platform-mediated avoidance. Sapap3-null mice also exhibit deficits in extinction of avoidant behavior, which is modulated by ITCd neural activity. Sapap3-null mice fail to extinguish avoidant behavior in platform-mediated avoidance, due to heightened ITCd activity. This deficit can be rescued by optogenetically inhibiting ITCd during extinction. Together, our results provide insight into the neural mechanisms underpinning negative reinforcement deficits in the context of OCD, emphasizing the necessity of ITCd in responding to negative stimuli in complex environments.

The effect of positive and negative reinforcement to increase motivation of basic locomotor movements in children with mild intellectual disabilities

The provision of good treatment can increase various positive things for the growth and development of children with disabilities, one of which is Positive and Negative Reinforcement. This study aims to determine the influence of positive and negative reinforcement on enhancing motivation for basic locomotor movements in children with disabilities. This study uses a pre-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design. The research was conducted at Kendungkandang State Special School with a sample of 20 students. The data collection technique in this study uses tests and measurements. The results of the study showed a significant influence of Positive Reinforcement on the increase in basic locomotor motivation in children with disabilities. This result was confirmed by a significance value of 0.000 &lt; 0.05. Negative reinforcement also had a significant effect on improving basic locomotor motivation in children with disabilities, with a significance value of 0.000 &lt; 0.05. Although both had a significant influence on improving basic locomotor motivation in children with disabilities, Positive Reinforcement was found to have a stronger effect. This result can be seen from the basic locomotor motion test, where the mean value for Positive Reinforcement was 72.50, while the mean value for Negative Reinforcement was only 63. Therefore, this research concludes that Positive Reinforcement has a greater influence on enhancing basic locomotor motivation in children with disabilities.

Optogenetic activation of mesencephalic projections to the nucleus accumbens shell impairs probabilistic reversal learning by disrupting learning from negative reinforcement.

Cognitive flexibility, the capacity to adapt behaviour to changes in the environment, is impaired in a range of brain disorders, including schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Putative neural substrates of cognitive flexibility include mesencephalic pathways to the ventral striatum (VS) and dorsomedial striatum (DMS), hypothesized to encode learning signals needed to maximize rewarded outcomes during decision-making. However, it is unclear whether mesencephalic projections to the ventral and dorsal striatum are distinct in their contribution to flexible reward-related learning. Here, rats acquired a two-choice spatial probabilistic reversal learning (PRL) task, reinforced on an 80%|20% basis (correct|incorrect responses) that assessed the flexibility of behaviour to repeated reversals of response-outcome contingencies. We report that optogenetic stimulation of projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS) in the VS significantly impaired reversal learning when optical stimulation was temporally aligned with negative feedback (i.e., reward omission). VTA → NAcS stimulation during other phases of the behavioural task was without significant effect. Optogenetic stimulation of projection neurons from the substantia nigra (SN) to the DMS, aligned either with reward receipt or omission or prior to making a choice, had no significant effect on reversal learning. These findings are consistent with the notion that increased activity in the VTA → NAcS pathway disrupts behavioural flexibility by impairing learning from negative reinforcement.

Aversive sexual learning in the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus: Modulation of different sexual responses in males and females

Although sexual learning can be a key process in the reproductive success of animals, research focused on the experience-dependent modulation of courtship in insects is scarce. In kissing bugs, the behavioural steps implicated in mating have been exhaustively studied, but not the involvement of learning in them. Our objective was to determine whether the sexual behaviour of Rhodnius prolixus could be modulated by experience. During training, couples were submitted to eight assays, in which they received a vibration (negative reinforcement) when the male attempted to copulate the female. Immediately after, they were separated, not allowing the occurrence of copulation. We found that along training, males’ latency to perform a copulatory attempt increased, male’s copulatory attempts were less frequent, and females’ locomotor activity did not change. These results suggest that males, and not females, learned to avoid the vibration by reducing their intention to copulate. In post-training tests, conditioned males presented with new naïve females reverted to low copulatory attempt latencies, suggesting that the modulation was partner-specific. Besides, conditioned females increased their rejection frequencies to males’ copulatory attempts, suggesting that a second type of learning occurred in females. These results constitute the first evidence of sexual learning in hematophagous insects. Males and females seem to change their selectivity according to their previous sexual experience. We discuss the relevance that this plasticity might have in the fitness of this epidemiologically relevant insect.

Between Scylla and Charybdis: Fixed-ratio avoidance response effort and unavoidable shock extinction in humans

Avoidance of potential threat may become maladaptive when it is indiscriminate and resistant to change. Here, we investigated the resistance to change of high and low avoidance response effort when avoidance extinction involved unavoidable presentations of the aversive event (shock) in humans. Following fear conditioning, participants prevented upcoming shock delivery by responding on high (i.e., fixed ratio, FR-20) and low (FR-5) negative reinforcement schedules. Next, noneliminable shock was used for an avoidance extinction procedure whereby responding was followed by, rather than prevented, shock. During a subsequent standard extinction and response prevention test phase, we found that High effort (FR-20) avoidance would be more readily extinguished than Low effort (FR-5) avoidance. It was also predicted that fear, threat expectancy, and psychophysiological (skin conductance) responses would decrease on avoidable trials and increase on unavoidable trials before extinguishing to low levels. It was found that in the final extinction re-test phase when avoidance was possible, responding increased, particularly for low effort cues. Both fear and expectancy remained high. Individual differences on clinically relevant measures of trait anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty and experiential avoidance were associated with greater levels of fear and threat expectancy. Overall, unavoidable shock extinction may hold promise for further translational investigations of avoidance learning, extinction, and clinical treatment development.

Similarities and differences between internet addiction and nicotine dependence —— motivation network

BackgroundMotivation, encompassing positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and compulsion, significantly influences addictive behavior. Yet, there is little research available on these motivational dimensions and their connection to addictive behavior. This study addressed these gaps by investigating motivation in internet addiction (IA) and nicotine dependence (ND). MethodsCross-sectional data from 472 nicotine users (NUs) and 1004 internet users (IUS) were examined using the Chinese version of the Habit, Reward, and Fear Scale. The Glasso network method was used to estimate the networks, and four interrelated centrality measures were calculated. ResultsIUs exhibited significantly lower total addiction motivation scores, as well as lower reward and fear dimensions, compared to NUs. In the Severity-Motivation Network, reward and fear motivations had the highest centrality. The habitual motivation of NUs demonstrated the highest closeness and betweenness centrality, showing a strong positive correlation with the degree of ND. The fear motivation of IUs exhibited a strong positive correlation with the degree of IA. In the symptom-motivation network, reward and habit nodes displayed higher centrality in NUs, whereas reward and fear nodes were most central for IUs. ConclusionsThe findings indicate that reward, fear, and habit motivations are key factors in explaining behaviors associated with nicotine use and internet use. The unique positions of habitual motivation in ND and fear motivation in IA provide new perspectives for understanding addictive behaviors. These should be considered key motivational targets for clinicians to address.

Assessment and Treatment of Target Behavior Maintained by Social Avoidance.

Past research has identified that some individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who engage in target behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury) maintained by negative reinforcement engage in the behavior to escape or avoid social interaction specifically (i.e., social avoidance). However, assessment and treatment strategies for this function are understudied when compared to target behavior maintained by other forms of negative reinforcement. The current study builds on this limited research and demonstrates (a) a replication of functional analysis conditions and a negative reinforcement latency assessment to identify the specific types of social interaction that evoke target behavior, and (b) an intervention that includes stimulus fading, social conditioning, and differential reinforcement for five participants with autism spectrum disorder. Participant target behavior decreased within the intervention phase for four out of five participants. The implications of strategies to guide the use of antecedent-based treatment strategies are discussed for target behavior maintained by social avoidance.

The Analysis of Criminogenic Factors in a Sample of Drug Addicts: The Relevance of the Social -Environmental Element in Antisocial Behavior. Pilot Study

Introduction: Behavior is the consequence of cognitive processes that originate from multifactorial products, such as genetic predisposition, education received, and experience gained from the family and social context of reference. The deficiency or defect of one or more of these factors could cause psychopathological shaping in the individual that can foster or nurture deviant or antisocial behavior. It is necessary to investigate what are the main factors underlying the criminal phenomenon. Materials and methods: The literature up to August 2024 was reviewed and 40 articles were included in the research. The survey was conducted through the administration of an experimental Questionnaire-type sociological survey (QA2CPICB). Results: In this pilot study, a population of 49 individuals (42 males and 7 females) most with criminal records and currently addicted to narcotic substances / drugs / alcohol, aged between 24 and 57 years (M: 39.7; SD: 9.1), residents or permanent residents of the “Emmanuel” Communities of the Apulia Region (Italy), were selected. The variable of age is negatively correlated with the areas investigated by the QA2CPICB (as age increases, the impact of the factors investigated decreases). Conclusion: Variables that can describe lived life influences (such as traumatic childhood events, critical family and work issues, economic poverty in adulthood, and lack of stable and lasting affective-emotional support), psychiatric disorders, and social-environmental influences (such as degraded, poor, and/or criminal family and social environment) are negatively correlated with the age variable and serve as positive reinforcers for maintaining the pathological state of drug addiction and engaging in deviant or criminal conduct to procure the necessary economic liquidity. Early intervention, reeducation and economic-work support can act as a deterrent and negative reinforcer on drug addiction, promoting patient recovery and limiting further legally relevant behavior in the justice system. Key points 1. The social-environmental factor plays a central role in maintaining criminal conduct. 2. Criminal conduct is the prerequisite for nurturing the substance-dependence state of drug addicts. 3. Early intervention, reeducation and economic-work support can act as a deterrent and negative reinforcer on drug addiction, promoting patient recovery and limiting further legally relevant behavior in the justice system.