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(https://www.psypost.org/neurofeedback-training-enhances-emotional-skills-in-alcohol-rehabilitation-study-finds/) Neurofeedback training enhances emotional skills in alcohol rehabilitation, study finds
Sep 4th 2024, 10:00

A recent study examined the impact of neurofeedback training when added to the standard rehabilitation treatment of individuals suffering from alcohol use disorder. The researchers found that individuals who received this training, along with the standard rehabilitation treatment, showed increased emotional competencies and higher life satisfaction compared to their peers who only underwent the standard alcohol rehabilitation treatment. The research was published in (https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae048) Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
Alcohol use disorder is a medical condition characterized by an inability to control alcohol consumption despite negative consequences on health, relationships, and daily responsibilities. It ranges from mild to severe, depending on the number and severity of symptoms, such as cravings for alcohol, withdrawal from social interactions, and continued drinking despite harm. Individuals with this disorder often develop a tolerance for alcohol, where more alcohol is needed to achieve the same effects, and physical dependence, where stopping alcohol use causes withdrawal symptoms.
Researchers believe that impaired emotional competencies may play a key role in the development of alcohol use disorder. A lack of these competencies also hinders efforts to stop alcohol use, leading to relapse. Impaired emotional competencies include reduced awareness of one’s own emotions, a diminished ability to recognize and perceive the emotions of others, and challenges in experiencing and managing emotions. They also involve issues with emotional self-efficacy, acceptance of emotions, and the ability to imagine and process emotional experiences effectively.
Study author Ramona L. Hack and her colleagues wanted to see whether adding EEG neurofeedback training to a standard alcohol rehabilitation treatment could improve participants’ emotional competencies and thus enhance the overall treatment outcome. EEG neurofeedback training is a therapeutic technique that uses real-time monitoring of brainwave activity (via electroencephalography – EEG) to help individuals learn to regulate their brain function.
The training system converts brainwave activity, which cannot be detected without special devices, into auditory or visual signals that a person can hear or see. This allows the individual undergoing neurofeedback training to learn to self-regulate brain activity in a way that produces the desired signal (i.e., the desired brainwaves). As these brainwaves can reflect a person’s inner psychological states, learning to regulate brainwave activity also helps individuals learn to regulate their own psychological state, in this case, to regulate their emotions.
The study participants were 56 individuals diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome, 23 of whom were female. The study authors randomly divided them into two groups. One group received “treatment as usual,” meaning they underwent the regular alcohol rehabilitation program. The other, experimental group, received neurofeedback training optimized for their condition in addition to the standard alcohol rehabilitation program. On average, the control group was older than the experimental group (49 years vs. 41 years old).
Before and after the treatment, study participants completed assessments of their emotional levels (using the Scales for Experiencing Emotions), compulsion to drink alcohol (using the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale), depressive symptoms (using the Beck Depression Inventory II Revision), cognitive strategies (using the Questionnaire of Dysfunctional and Functional Self-Consciousness), coping strategies (using the Stress Coping Questionnaire), impulsivity (using the Impulsive Behavior Scale), and life satisfaction (using the Life Satisfaction Self-Report Scale).
The EEG neurofeedback training consisted of two parts. In the first part, participants learned to regulate their sensorimotor brainwave rhythm, while the second part focused on regulating alpha/theta brainwaves. As feedback, participants viewed a graph depicting their current brainwaves. Their task was to ensure that the graph turned green instead of red. Each part lasted around 20 minutes, and participants completed 15 training sessions. The standard alcohol rehabilitation treatment involved psychotherapy, art therapy, and medical/physical training.
Results showed that participants who underwent neurofeedback training improved in emotion regulation and had a significant decrease in “Lack of Emotions” scores. In contrast, the control group, which underwent standard rehabilitation, did not show changes in these assessments. The changes in the neurofeedback training group were moderate in size.
The neurofeedback training group also reported increased life satisfaction compared to the control group. Both groups showed a decrease in compulsions to drink alcohol.
“Improvements on the clinical-psychological level, i.e., increases in emotional competences as well as life satisfaction were found after the experimental EEG-neurofeedback training. Neurophysiological measurements via resting state EEG indicate decreases in low beta frequency band [type of brainwaves], while alpha and theta band [another type of brainwaves] remained unaffected,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the potential of neurofeedback training to improve the emotional competencies of individuals with alcohol use disorder. However, it should be noted that, for most of the study participants, alcohol use disorder was not the only psychiatric diagnosis. Additionally, the effects observed were on emotional competencies, not on any of the direct symptoms of problematic alcohol use.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae048) Brain regulation training improves emotional competences in patients with alcohol use disorder,” was authored by Ramona L Hack, Martin Aigner, Michael Musalek, Richard Crevenna, and Lilian Konicar.

(https://www.psypost.org/people-with-an-evolutionary-mismatched-lifestyle-are-more-likely-to-face-several-negative-outcomes/) People with an evolutionarily-mismatched lifestyle are more likely to face several negative outcomes
Sep 4th 2024, 08:00

Scientists have developed a new tool designed to measure how modern lifestyles differ from those of our ancestors and how these differences might impact health. The study, published in the journal (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844024110286) Heliyon, introduced the Evolutionary Mismatched Lifestyle Scale (EMLS), a 36-item questionnaire that identifies behaviors and lifestyle factors that deviate from those our ancestors experienced. The results showed that individuals with higher scores on this scale were more likely to report poor physical and mental health outcomes.
The concept of evolutionary mismatch suggests that many contemporary health issues arise because our modern environment and lifestyle differ significantly from the conditions in which humans evolved. For example, the prevalence of processed foods and sedentary lifestyles contrasts sharply with the diets and activity levels of our ancestors, leading to increased rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
Despite growing interest in this theory, there has been no standardized way to measure the extent of evolutionary mismatch at an individual level. This gap motivated the researchers to develop a psychometrically sound tool that could assess how mismatched a person’s lifestyle is compared to ancestral conditions and how this mismatch relates to their health.
“There is a surge in physical and mental health-problems in modern societies and modern workplaces, which scientists attribute to our lifestyle choices and patterns. As evolutionary psychologists we are interested in how our lifestyle – in terms of what we eat, how much we move, and relate to others – is different from that of life in an ancestral world of hunter-gatherers from which we are the descendants,” said study author (https://www.professormarkvanvugt.com/) Mark van Vugt, a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
“We wanted to create a tool by which we can assess the degree of divergence – or mismatch – between these two worlds with the expectation that a greater divergence will be bad for someone’s physical and mental health. So we developed a scale, the EMLS, to gauge this difference and this study validates that scale.”
The researchers conducted a series of studies involving over 1,900 participants to develop and validate the EMLS. They started with a pilot study to generate and refine potential items for the scale, followed by three main studies to establish the scale’s structure, reliability, and validity.
The first step in developing the EMLS involved generating an initial pool of 89 items, which were based on existing research and input from experts in evolutionary behavioral science. These items covered various lifestyle domains believed to be relevant to evolutionary mismatch, such as diet, physical activity, social support, and digital media use.
Participants in the pilot study, who were recruited via an online platform, were asked to evaluate these items for clarity and relevance. The feedback collected from this pilot group led to refinements, where unclear items were revised or removed, resulting in a more polished set of items for further testing.
Following the pilot study, the first main study was conducted with a sample of nearly 800 participants. The goal was to explore whether the items could be grouped into coherent dimensions, which would form the subscales of the EMLS. The researchers employed exploratory factor analysis (EFA), a statistical technique that helps identify underlying relationships between variables, to examine the data. This analysis led to the identification of six preliminary subscales.
The second main study involved a new sample of 550 participants and aimed to confirm the factor structure identified in Study 1. This phase used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), a more rigorous technique that tests whether the data fit the proposed model.
Based on the results, the researchers made further refinements to the scale. For example, they split the Social Media Use and Vanity scale into two distinct subscales due to conceptual differences, and they removed items related to substance use from the Romantic Relationships subscale, as they did not load strongly onto this factor. The final outcome of Study 2 was a 36-item scale divided into seven subscales: Social Media Use, Vanity, Social Support, Home Environment, Romantic and Sexual Relationships, Physical Activity, and Diet.
The final study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the EMLS. With a new sample of 552 participants, the researchers tested whether the scale consistently measured what it was supposed to measure (reliability) and whether it accurately captured the concept of evolutionary mismatch (validity). They also examined the scale’s predictive validity by looking at its ability to predict health outcomes, such as physical health issues, mental well-being, and overall subjective health. The results showed that the EMLS was both reliable and valid, with strong associations between higher mismatch scores and poorer health outcomes.
The researchers found that higher scores on the EMLS, which indicate a greater degree of mismatch between a person’s lifestyle and their evolutionary adaptations, were associated with poorer health outcomes. Specifically, individuals with higher mismatch scores reported more physical health issues, such as sleep problems and chronic illnesses, as well as poorer mental well-being, including higher levels of depression and anxiety. Moreover, these individuals also rated their overall health as lower compared to those with lower mismatch scores.
The study also provided detailed insights into how specific lifestyle domains contribute to evolutionary mismatch and its impact on health. For example, the Social Media Use subscale was linked to higher levels of vanity and lower levels of social support, both of which were associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Similarly, the Physical Activity subscale revealed that participants who led more sedentary lifestyles, which are evolutionarily mismatched with the active lifestyles of our ancestors, reported more physical health problems.
The findings indicate “that how you feel, mentally and physically, is related to your lifestyle choices and patterns,” van Vugt told PsyPost. “The greater the difference between your lifestyle — in terms of what you eat, how much you exercise, sleep, and how you connect to others — and the way our ancestors lived for thousands of generations — as hunter-gatherers — the greater the risk of developing physical and mental health issues.”
“So you should find ways to lead a life that is more aligned to the way our ancestors lived. That does not mean that you have to go out hunting or sleep outside. But it does mean that you should be aware that the modern world contains all kinds of challenges to which your body and brain is not so well-adjusted. For example, just like our ancestors had to spend calories to obtain food, you will have to do the same. So, walk or take your bike to the supermarket and only buy the food that you really need for that day.”
These findings suggest that the EMLS can be a valuable tool for identifying individuals who may be at greater risk for health problems due to lifestyle factors that are not well-aligned with their evolutionary heritage. But the findings, like all research, come with some caveats.
One limitation is the cross-sectional nature of the study, which means that the data were collected at a single point in time. This design does not allow researchers to determine whether evolutionary mismatch causes poor health outcomes or simply correlates with them. Longitudinal studies, which follow participants over time, would help to clarify this.
“We have not followed people over time to determine if the degree of mismatch established at time 0 will result in a deterioration of one’s physical and/or mental wellbeing at time 1,” van Vugt noted.
In addition, the research was conducted exclusively with participants from the United Kingdom, raising questions about the scale’s applicability to other cultural contexts. The scale was developed based on Western perspectives and may not fully capture the evolutionary mismatches experienced by people in non-Western societies.
The researchers plan “to examine people from different cultures, classes and societies on their EMLS-scores,” van Vugt said. “For example, how does the average American adult score in comparison to say someone from the Netherlands, Denmark or Japan. And, are there differences between people from relatively low versus higher social economic classes and on what aspects of the scale? By knowing these aspects we can think about targeted interventions for specific groups of people to mitigate against evolutionary mismatches.”
The study, “Mind the Gap: Development and Validation of an Evolutionary Mismatched Lifestyle Scale and Its Impact on Health and Wellbeing,” was authored by Jiaqing O., Trefor Aspden, Andrew G. Thomas, Lei Chang, Moon-Ho Ringo Ho, Norman P. Li, and Mark van Vugt.

(https://www.psypost.org/taylor-swifts-political-endorsement-how-powerful-would-it-be-new-study-has-a-surprising-answer/) Taylor Swift’s political endorsement: How powerful would it be? New study has a surprising answer
Sep 4th 2024, 06:00

In a recent study published in (https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X241269863) American Politics Research, scholars examined whether Taylor Swift, one of the world’s most popular musicians, could influence young people’s views on a public policy issue. The study found that when Swift’s name was associated with a policy, respondents were less likely to disagree with it, although the endorsement had minimal impact on increasing outright agreement with the policy.
The researchers were interested in understanding the broader impact of celebrity endorsements in politics. While it is well-documented that celebrities can influence voting behavior, less is known about their ability to shape public opinion on specific policy issues. Taylor Swift was chosen for this study because of her status as a “super-celebrity”—someone with not only a large fan base but also a deep emotional connection with her fans.
“Since I wrote my dissertation in the late 1990s on the topic, I have been fascinated by the relationships between entertainment media and political beliefs. Celebrity activity in politics is a natural offshoot of this interest,” explained study author David J. Jackson, a professor of political science at Bowling Green State University.
The researchers conducted an experimental survey using a sample of students from a large Midwestern university. The survey was designed to measure the effect of a hypothetical endorsement by Taylor Swift on a specific public policy issue: the role of parents and teachers in selecting books for high school libraries. The survey was conducted over a week in late July and early August 2023.
Participants were divided into two groups. The control group received a neutral statement: “Parents and teachers should have an equal say in deciding which books to include in high school libraries.” The treatment group received the same statement but with an added endorsement: “Taylor Swift believes that parents and teachers should have an equal say in deciding which books to include in high school libraries.” Participants were then asked how they felt about the statement.
The survey garnered responses from 770 students, though not all participants answered every question. The sample was predominantly white (86%), with 55% identifying as female. The majority of participants were between the ages of 19 and 21, reflecting the typical age distribution of a university student population. Politically, the sample leaned left, with 38% identifying as Democrats and 49% considering themselves liberal.
The results revealed a modest but notable influence of Taylor Swift’s hypothetical endorsement on the participants’ opinions. In the control group, 46.9% of respondents disagreed with the idea that parents and teachers should have an equal say in selecting high school library books. In contrast, in the group where Swift’s endorsement was mentioned, only 39.9% disagreed—a difference of seven percentage points.
“Respondents are less likely to disagree with a public policy position if Taylor Swift’s name is attached to the position,” Jackson told PsyPost. “This suggests that celebrities can influence not just people’s candidate choices, but their policy positions as well.”
Interestingly, the group exposed to Swift’s endorsement was more likely to be neutral (23.3% compared to 17.3% in the control group), though they were only slightly more likely to agree with the statement (36.8% compared to 35.8%). This suggests that while Swift’s endorsement did not drastically increase agreement with the policy, it did reduce outright disagreement and increased neutrality among respondents.
“We expected Swift to show a greater impact,” Jackson said. “However, had we controlled for how positively or negatively people feel about her and if they perceive her as credible, we likely would have gotten stronger results. ”
While the study provides valuable insights, it is important to consider its limitations. The sample consisted entirely of university students, which limits the generalizability of the findings to the broader population. University students tend to be younger and more liberal than the general public, and their views might not represent those of older or more conservative individuals.
Additionally, the study opens the door for further investigation into the mechanisms behind celebrity influence on public opinion. The researchers suggested that Swift’s influence might be linked to her perceived credibility, attractiveness, and the emotional connection her fans have with her. Understanding these factors more deeply could help explain why certain celebrities have a greater impact on public opinion than others.
Looking forwards, Jackson and his colleagues plan “to continue contributing to our knowledge of the influence of celebrities in politics, and perhaps to do more global/comparative work.”
The study, “(https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1532673X241269863) Taylor Swift as a Potential Celebrity Political Endorser,” was authored by David J. Jackson, Anthony J. Nownes, and Thomas Norton.

(https://www.psypost.org/childhood-emotional-abuse-and-neglect-linked-to-frequent-disturbed-dreams-in-young-adults/) Childhood emotional abuse and neglect linked to frequent disturbed dreams in young adults
Sep 3rd 2024, 16:00

A recent study published in the journal (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2024-69053-001?doi=1) Dreaming has shed new light on how emotional abuse and neglect during childhood can lead to frequent disturbed dreaming in young adults. The study found that individuals who experienced higher levels of emotional abuse or neglect as children were more likely to have frequent disturbed dreams, which include both nightmares that wake the dreamer and bad dreams that cause distress but do not wake the person. The research also identified rumination, or the tendency to focus on negative thoughts, as a key factor that mediates this relationship.
Disturbed dreaming is a common yet often overlooked problem that can significantly affect a person’s well-being. Previous research has shown that various forms of childhood trauma, including physical and sexual abuse, are associated with more frequent and intense disturbed dreams. However, emotional abuse and neglect, which are subtler forms of maltreatment, have not been as thoroughly studied in relation to disturbed dreaming. Emotional abuse includes behaviors that harm a child’s self-esteem or emotional well-being, such as verbal insults or rejection, while emotional neglect refers to the failure to provide necessary emotional support, such as affection or encouragement.
The researchers were particularly interested in understanding how these forms of emotional maltreatment might contribute to disturbed dreaming in adulthood. They also wanted to explore the role of rumination—a negative thinking style where individuals obsess over distressing thoughts—and whether it might serve as a bridge linking childhood emotional abuse and neglect to frequent disturbed dreams.
the researchers conducted a study involving 847 university students from Fujian and Guangdong provinces in China. The participants were between 17 and 22 years old, and they completed several questionnaires designed to measure their experiences of emotional abuse and neglect, their tendency to ruminate, the frequency of their disturbed dreams, and the level of social support they perceived in their lives.
The study used the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to assess emotional abuse and neglect. This questionnaire includes questions that ask participants how often they experienced certain forms of emotional maltreatment during childhood. For example, one item might ask how often a participant felt unloved or unsupported by their parents. Higher scores indicated more severe experiences of emotional abuse and neglect.
Rumination was measured using a separate questionnaire that asked participants to rate how much they agreed with statements about their thinking patterns, such as whether they often think about how they feel and why they feel that way. Again, higher scores indicated a greater tendency to ruminate.
The frequency of disturbed dreaming was assessed by asking participants how often they experienced nightmares or bad dreams over the past year. Responses ranged from “never” to “every night,” providing a measure of how often these disturbed dreams occurred.
Lastly, the researchers assessed social support using a questionnaire that measured how much support participants felt they received from family, friends, and other sources. Higher scores indicated higher levels of perceived social support.
As the researchers hypothesized, emotional abuse and neglect in childhood were strongly associated with more frequent disturbed dreaming in early adulthood. Participants who reported higher levels of emotional maltreatment also reported having more disturbed dreams. This finding suggests that even non-physical forms of childhood trauma can have lasting effects on mental health, manifesting in disturbed dreaming years later.
The researchers also found that rumination played a significant mediating role in this relationship. Specifically, those who had experienced emotional abuse and neglect were more likely to ruminate, which in turn was associated with more frequent disturbed dreaming. This finding supports the idea that how individuals process their emotions and thoughts plays a crucial role in determining the frequency and intensity of their disturbed dreams.
“Taken together, our results partially support the stress acceleration hypothesis of nightmares,” the researchers wrote. “Individuals’ repeated attention to negative events may increase their susceptibility to disturbed dreaming. Therefore, we suggest that rumination may be an internal mechanism towards emotional abuse and neglect, affecting the frequency of disturbed dreaming.”
Interestingly, the study also explored the role of social support in this process. While social support did not appear to directly influence the relationship between emotional abuse and neglect and disturbed dreaming, it did have a significant impact on how rumination affected disturbed dreaming. Participants who reported higher levels of social support were less likely to have frequent disturbed dreams, even if they were prone to ruminating.
This suggests that having a strong support network might help individuals cope better with negative thoughts, reducing the likelihood that these thoughts will translate into disturbed dreaming. “Individuals talk about their concerns in social networks, which helps them vent their emotions and adopt problem-solving measures,” the researchers wrote.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000270) The Effect of Childhood Emotional Abuse and Neglect on Disturbed Dreaming Frequency: The Important Role of Rumination and Perceived Social Support,” was authored by Bingbing Lin, Ziqing Ye, Yiduo Ye, Kunyan Wang, and Yuanjun Zhang.

(https://www.psypost.org/moral-character-is-shaped-by-self-view-reputation-and-shared-perceptions/) Moral character is shaped by self-view, reputation, and shared perceptions
Sep 3rd 2024, 14:00

Researchers have identified that perceptions of moral character are highly idiosyncratic and largely shaped by individual biases. This research was published in the (https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12902) Journal of Personality.
Understanding what it means to possess strong moral character has intrigued psychologists for years. Moral character, often considered a subset of personality traits that reflect a disposition to act in virtuous and ethically admirable ways, is traditionally measured through self-reports, informant reports, or observed behavior. However, each of these methods has its limitations, especially since moral traits are not only highly evaluative but can also be somewhat internalized, making it difficult to capture a complete picture of a person’s moral character.
Victoria Pringle and colleagues sought to address these limitations by decomposing moral character impressions into three distinct components: Shared Moral Character (the common ground between self- and informant reports), Moral Identity (how individuals uniquely perceive their morality), and Moral Reputation (how others uniquely perceive an individual’s morality). This approach considers the unique insights offered by both self-perception and external judgments.
In the first study, researchers recruited 266 undergraduate students from the University of Toronto Mississauga. Participants completed surveys assessing key moral traits such as fairness, honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness, and kindness. To get a fuller picture, each student also had people close to them—referred to as informants—fill out similar surveys about the student’s moral character.
The researchers then analyzed the differences and similarities between how the students viewed themselves and how others saw them. To reduce bias, they controlled for positivity (the tendency to view oneself or others favorably) and acquiescence (the tendency to agree with statements regardless of content).
The results showed that there was little overlap between how students saw their own moral character and how others saw them, with common perceptions explaining less than one-fifth of the overall impressions. The way students saw themselves had a more significant impact, accounting for about one-quarter of the overall impression.
On the other hand, how others uniquely viewed the students’ morality contributed much less. Individual biases, particularly the tendency to see things positively, played a major role in shaping these impressions. Students who were seen as having strong moral character by both themselves and their informants tended to be more honest, agreeable, and conscientious, and were generally respected by others, although this didn’t necessarily translate to making strong first impressions or feeling better about themselves.
In the second study, 192 participants from the community and McGill University were recruited. Each participant was asked to bring along someone who knew them well to a lab session, ensuring that there were reliable external perspectives on their moral character. As in the first study, participants and their informants completed surveys about the participants’ moral traits. Additionally, participants took part in a behavioral exercise called the Public Goods game, where they had to decide how much money to contribute to a communal fund, which served as a measure of their prosocial behavior.
The overlap between self-perceptions and others’ views of moral character was again found to be minimal. Self-perceptions remained the strongest influence, while others’ views contributed only marginally. Biases, especially the tendency to view things positively, were still a significant factor. Participants who were seen as more moral by both themselves and their informants were more likely to behave generously in the Public Goods game and were respected and influential in the eyes of others, though this didn’t necessarily affect how they were perceived upon first meeting or their overall well-being.
Overall, these results show that moral character is not a monolithic construct but rather a multifaceted one that varies depending on perspective.
One limitation is the reliance on self and informant reports, which might not fully capture the complexity of moral character, as these methods are still susceptible to various biases.
The research, (https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12902) “What is the moral person like? An examination of the shared and unique perspectives on moral character,” was authored by Victoria Pringle, Jessie Sun, and Erika N. Carlson.

(https://www.psypost.org/addiction-study-reveals-distinct-cognitive-mechanisms-behind-different-behaviors/) Addiction study reveals distinct cognitive mechanisms behind different behaviors
Sep 3rd 2024, 12:00

A recent study published in the (https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/aop/article-10.1556-2006.2024.00041/article-10.1556-2006.2024.00041.xml) Journal of Behavioral Addictions challenges the idea of a universal neurocognitive profile that could predict all types of addictive behaviors. The research found that while reward-related neurocognitive processes play a role in various non-substance-related addictive behaviors, these processes manifest differently depending on the specific behavior in question. The study suggests that instead of a single set of neurocognitive functions driving all addictions, there may be unique mechanisms at play depending on the behavior.
Addiction research has long focused on the neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie substance use disorders like alcohol or drug addiction. However, there has been far less investigation into the cognitive processes that might predict non-substance-related addictive behaviors, such as addictive eating, problematic pornography use, and excessive internet use.
Previous studies often suggested that impairments in cognitive control and reward processing might be common predictors across different types of addictive behaviors. However, these studies have often produced inconsistent results, particularly when looking at non-substance-related addictions.
In (https://www.psypost.org/distinct-neurocognitive-profiles-observed-in-various-addictive-behaviors/) a previous cross-sectional study, published in Addictive Behaviors, the researchers found that different addictive behaviors were associated with unique cognitive and personality traits. By adopting a longitudinal approach in their new study, they aimed to clarify whether specific neurocognitive functions could predict changes in addictive behaviors over time.
“Neurocognition and addictive behaviors can influence each other in a bi-directional manner. For instance, impaired neurocognitive function can increase the likelihood of developing and maintaining addictive behaviours, while chronic engagement in such behaviours can also modulate or impair neurocognitive function,” explained study author (https://www.linkedin.com/in/erynn-christensen-7aa3b31a5) Erynn Christensen, a postdoctoral researcher affiliated with the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and Zucker Hillside Hospital.
“Cross-sectional studies, which measure both variables at the same time, cannot determine the direction of their relationship. Longitudinal models, however, allow us to investigate how one variable can predict another variable, thus clarifying the direction of the relationship.”
The researchers recruited 400 young adults aged 18 to 35 years from the general population, with the aim of capturing a diverse sample that reflects the typical onset age for many addictive behaviors. The participants were primarily Australian residents and were free from any neurological or psychotic disorders, ensuring that the study focused on neurocognitive functions relevant to addiction without interference from other significant health conditions.
The study involved a series of neurocognitive tasks and self-report surveys administered at three points: baseline, three months, and six months. These tasks were delivered online and were designed to assess various cognitive functions that have been previously linked to addiction, such as response inhibition, reward learning, and decision-making under uncertainty.
For example, one task measured how well participants could inhibit their responses to a visual cue, reflecting their cognitive control, while another assessed their tendency to take risks when faced with uncertain outcomes, a measure related to reward processing. Additionally, participants completed surveys that measured their engagement in different addictive behaviors, allowing the researchers to track changes over time.
The researchers found that no single neurocognitive function consistently predicted all types of addictive behaviors, challenging the idea of a universal cognitive profile for addiction. However, specific neurocognitive functions were linked to certain behaviors.
“We showed that reward-related neurocognitive processes were implicated across each non-substance addictive behavior, but in different ways, underscoring their importance in driving addictive behaviors and making them an important focus of further research,” Christensen told PsyPost.
For example, participants who exhibited steeper delay discounting (a preference for smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed ones) were more likely to develop addictive eating behaviors over the study period. This suggests that difficulties in delaying gratification may play a role in the development of compulsive eating habits.
In contrast, the study found that lower delay discounting, meaning a greater ability to delay gratification, was unexpectedly associated with higher levels of problematic pornography use over time. This counterintuitive finding suggests that the relationship between cognitive control and specific types of addiction may be more complex than previously thought.
“A finding that particularly surprised us was that a preference for delayed gratification predicted more problematic pornography use over time,” Christensen said. “We actually expected the opposite result because previous research has shown that individuals with problematic pornography use tend to have a higher preference for immediate gratification compared to those with regular, non-problematic use.”
“We suspect this discrepancy arises because our study examined problematic pornography use dimensionally, across a spectrum of low to high levels, while the other study used a categorical approach, comparing distinct groups based on severity, but it is difficult to say. We definitely need more research devoted to better understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms of problematic pornography use.”
Additionally, the study found that greater sensitivity to reward-related cues predicted more severe addictive eating behaviors at later stages, indicating that individuals who are more easily distracted by high-value rewards may be more vulnerable to developing compulsive eating patterns.
“To date, research on the neurocognitive predictors of non-substance addictive behaviors, such as problematic eating, problematic pornography use, and problematic internet use, is extremely limited,” Christensen told PsyPost. “Furthermore, there has been little to no comparison of the independent drivers behind these behaviors. Current neurocognitive models of these addictive behaviors often assume that common functions are impaired across these behaviors and that these impairments can predict poorer outcomes.”
“However, our findings suggest this may not be the case. We did not identify a core set of specific neurocognitive functions that reliably predicted addictive behaviors across multiple behavior types, suggesting that there may be partially distinct neurocognitive mechanisms contributing to addiction, depending on the specific addictive behavior under consideration. These findings are cohesive with our previous work showing similar relationships cross-sectionally, as well as (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763423002646?via%3Dihub) findings from a systematic review of the current state of the literature. However, more work should be done to interrogate these differences.”
While the study provides new insights into the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying different types of addictive behaviors, it also has limitations. One of the main limitations is that the study sample was drawn from the general population and exhibited relatively low levels of engagement in addictive behaviors.
“Our failure to identify common neurocognitive predictors across all addictive behavior types (alcohol, eating, internet use and pornography) does not mean they do not exist, they just might be more important at later stages of addictive behavior (e.g. when the behaviour reaches clinical levels), and could play a role in treatment success,” Christensen noted.
“Future work is needed to establish whether our findings hold in samples with more severe problematic use. However, a systematic review published by myself and the team last year revealed, when looking at later stages of addiction and treatment outcomes, we see neurocognition differentially predicted different substance use types and gambling.”
“Another important consideration is how we measured neurocognition in this study,” Christensen added. “Neurocognitive functions, such as cognitive control and reward-related processes, are dynamic and context-dependent, influenced by factors like sleep, stress, craving, and exposure to addiction-related cues, like walking past a bar. As a result, single-time-point assessments used in this study may not effectively capture these fluctuating processes.”
“Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) paradigms offer a promising solution. EMA involves multiple short neurocognitive assessments over time (e.g., daily or several times a day), providing frequent snapshots of neurocognition. This approach can track within-person fluctuations across various contexts, psychological states, and environmental conditions. I believe there is a lot of value in this approach and is the way forward for the field of neurocognitive assessment.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2024.00041) A comprehensive evaluation of the neurocognitive predictors of problematic alcohol use, eating, pornography, and internet use: A 6-month longitudinal study,” was authored by Erynn Christensen, Lucy Albertella, Samuel R. Chamberlain, Chao Suo, Maja Brydevall, Jon E. Grant, Murat Yücel, and Rico Sze Chun Lee.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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