scholarly journals Daily and Non-daily Smokers: A Profile of Drive and Cognitive Control Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Edward Bartlett

Historically, smokers were considered a single homogeneous group, but over the past two decades research has increasingly focused on differentiating daily and non-daily smokers. Despite fundamentally different smoking habits and motives, daily and non-daily smokers have similar cessation rates. In order to understand why both groups may experience a similar difficulty quitting smoking, this thesis explored neurocognitive mechanisms associated with addictive behaviour. In order to profile these mechanisms, a systematic review was conducted, highlighting there was a gap to address in two areas of research relating to drive and control. Study One (N = 60) and Study Two (N = 166) investigated attentional bias towards smoking cues using the visual probe task, finding there was no meaningful difference between daily and non-daily smokers in trait-level attentional bias. Study Three (N = 28) measured ERP components associated with inhibitory control (Go/NoGo task) and error processing (Eriksen Flanker task). There were no significant effects of interest, but the sample size was smaller than planned. This thesis made three contributions to the study of addictive behaviour. First, the systematic review highlighted that research investigating lighter and heavier smokers has a problematic level of heterogeneity in the definitions used to define the groups. Second, there was no meaningful difference in attentional bias between daily and non-daily smokers, supporting contemporary theories that attentional bias may be best conceptualised as a state-level construct. Finally, internal consistency estimates of the ERP measures of inhibitory control and error processing supported previous research reporting good psychometric properties. Overall, this thesis presented a focused profile of measures relating to drive and control neurocognitive mechanisms, but there were no meaningful differences between daily and non-daily smokers. If these mechanisms are important to addictive behaviour, future research will have to investigate their role using alternative designs.

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maartje Luijten ◽  
Marise Machielsen ◽  
Dick Veltman ◽  
Robert Hester ◽  
Lieuwe de Haan ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly D. Blake ◽  
Chan Thai ◽  
Angela Falisi ◽  
Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou ◽  
April Oh ◽  
...  

Background. The use of videos for patient and public health education has been widely adopted and well documented in the literature. Aims. To conduct a systematic review of empirical studies that used video-based interventions for cancer prevention and control to document study designs, settings, approaches, targeted cancer sites and behaviors, and outcomes and to identify gaps in research and practice. Method. PubMed, PsychINFO, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science were searched for studies published in the 30-year period from 1984 to 2014. Of 1,521 articles identified, duplicates were removed, and titles and abstracts of 779 were examined for eligibility. In all, 315 articles met the inclusion criteria and were coded by three independent coders. Interrater reliability was assessed. Descriptive frequencies and proportions were calculated. Results. Studies evaluating video interventions for cancer prevention and control have increased over time. The majority used randomized controlled trial designs (54%), followed by single-group pre–posttest designs (18%). Most were delivered in health care settings (39%). Detection (30%) and treatment (16%) were the cancer control continuum stages most frequently addressed, with breast cancer (29%) being the most frequently targeted cancer site. The behavior most commonly targeted was screening/early detection (39%). Topics such as caregiving, coping, palliative care, and end of life were rarely addressed. The majority (69%) reported being successful at achieving their stated objectives, though outcomes varied across studies. Conclusions. Video interventions have been widely utilized for cancer prevention and control, with demonstrated successes. Future research should test innovative designs and new delivery platforms and should include underrepresented topics and cancer sites.


Author(s):  
Adam M McNeill ◽  
Rebecca L Monk ◽  
Adam W Qureshi ◽  
Damien Litchfield ◽  
Derek Heim

Abstract Aims Previous research indicates that acute alcohol intoxication and placebo can inhibit people’s control over consumption behaviour and heighten attentional bias (AB) towards alcohol-related stimuli and craving. We designed a study to disentangle anticipated from pharmacological effects of alcohol in order to gain a clearer view of their relative contributions to alcohol consumption. Methods In a within-participants design (moderate alcohol dose, placebo and control), and over a minimum 2-week period, participants completed a battery of questionnaires and cognitive tasks, followed by a bogus taste task to measure ad libitum consumption. Results Both alcohol preload and placebo resulted in cognitive and psychological changes, including impaired inhibitory control, heightened AB and craving. However, ad libitum consumption only increased following alcohol and not placebo. Furthermore, inhibitory control impairments did not mediate the relationship between initial intoxication and ad libitum consumption, and findings indicate that increases in craving may mediate this association. Conclusion Psychological processes such as craving may be more important in driving consummatory behaviour relative to transient changes in cognitive processes, such as inhibitory control.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 573-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Bojic ◽  
Rodrigo Becerra

Despite the increasing number of studies examining the effects of mindfulness interventions on symptoms associated with Bipolar Disorder (BD), the effectiveness of this type of interventions remains unclear. The aim of the present systematic review was to (i) critically review all available evidence on Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as a form of intervention for BD; (ii) discuss clinical implications of MBCT in treating patients with BD; and (iii) provide a direction for future research. The review presents findings from 13 studies (N = 429) that fulfilled the following selection criteria: (i) included BD patients; (ii) presented results separately for BD patients and control groups (where a control group was available); (iii) implemented MBCT intervention; (iv) were published in English; (v) were published in a peer reviewed journal; and (vi) reported results for adult participants. Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, results from the present review suggest that MBCT is a promising treatment in BD in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. MBCT in BD is associated with improvements in cognitive functioning and emotional regulation, reduction in symptoms of anxiety depression and mania symptoms (when participants had residual manic symptoms prior to MBCT). These, treatment gains were maintained at 12 month follow up when mindfulness was practiced for at least 3 days per week or booster sessions were included. Additionally, the present review outlined some limitations of the current literature on MBCT interventions in BD, including small study sample sizes, lack of active control groups and idiosyncratic modifications to the MBCT intervention across studies. Suggestions for future research included focusing on factors underlying treatment adherence and understanding possible adverse effects of MBCT, which could be of crucial clinical importance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikel Ostiz-Blanco ◽  
Javier Bernacer ◽  
Irati Garcia-Arbizu ◽  
Patricia Diaz-Sanchez ◽  
Luz Rello ◽  
...  

Background: The use of electronic interventions to improve reading is becoming a common resource. This systematic review aims to describe the main characteristics of randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental studies that have used these tools to improve first-language reading, in order to highlight the features of the most reliable studies and guide future research.Methods: The whole procedure followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the protocol was registered before starting the process (doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/CKM4N). Searches in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and an institutional reference aggregator (Unika) yielded 6,230 candidate articles. After duplicate removal, screening, and compliance of eligibility criteria, 55 studies were finally included.Results: They were research studies on improving first-language reading, both in children and adults, and including a control group. Thirty-three different electronic tools were employed, most of them in English, and studies were very diverse in sample size, length of intervention, and control tasks. Risk of bias was analyzed with the PEDro scale, and all studies had a medium or low risk. However, risk of bias due to conflicts of interest could not be evaluated in most studies, since they did not include a statement on this issue.Conclusion: Future research on this topic should include randomized intervention and control groups, with sample sizes over 65 per group, interventions longer than 15 h, and a proper disclosure of possible conflicts of interest.Systematic Review Registration: The whole procedure followed the PRISMA guidelines, and the protocol was registered before starting the process in the Open Science Framework (doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/CKM4N).


Author(s):  
Hassan Khajehpour ◽  
Fahimeh Mohagheghian ◽  
Sepideh Bakht ◽  
Nasser Samadzadehaghdam ◽  
Ehsan Eqlimi ◽  
...  

Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) have been used in addiction studies to evaluate cognitive performance and craving in individuals with Substance Use Dependence (SUD). This paper reviews studies that used ERPs to investigate cue reactivity, inhibitory control and error processing in SUDs. Five abused substances are included in the investigation, i.e. alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, and methamphetamine. For each substance, the main recent findings related to the ERPs are specifically discussed, according to the latency of ERPs. The results show that individuals with SUDs allocate more attention resources to the cognitive processing of substance-related cues, indexed by increased amplitude of middle and late latency ERPs. Laboratory observations also show amplitude enlargement for early latency ERPs. SUDs reveal a deficiency in the inhibitory control and conscious error processing, indexed by attenuated N2 and Pe amplitude. The cognitive and motor inhibitory component (P3) changes show a controversial result. This study expands the findings of previous related reviews implying that substance abusers allocate more attentional resources to drug cues indexed by enlarged P3 and LPP amplitude. Regarding P3 elicited in inhibitory control tasks, there is not still convergent results, while N2 and Pe become attenuated as reported in previous reviews. The outcomes also show that the chance of relapse to substance abuse could be predicted by recording ERPs reflecting inhibitory control and error processing.  


Author(s):  
Catalina Diana Dumitru ◽  
Alexandra Mittelstadt

Trust in work teams is a growing field of research. Numerous studies research trust in work teams in connection to team effectiveness and team performance. But this substantial amount of work lacks continuity and systematization in terms of conceptualization and operationalization. With this research project we take stock of the knowledge from previous studies and carry out a systematic review of the literature on trust in work teams. We analyze a total of 64 papers addressing trust in work teams, published between 1999 and 2019 (inclusive). In our review we focus on how trust in teams has been conceptualized and operationalized, how trust develops and is maintained in work teams, and on the tangled relationships between trust, distrust, and control. With this paper we contribute to the field of management and organizational studies by offering a theoretical framework of the antecedents of trust in work teams and by identifying current research gaps and future research directions. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 326-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Weidner ◽  
Joneen Lowman

Purpose We conducted a systematic review of the literature regarding adult telepractice services (screening, assessment, and treatment) from approximately 2014 to 2019. Method Thirty-one relevant studies were identified from a literature search, assessed for quality, and reported. Results Included studies illustrated feasibility, efficacy, diagnostic accuracy, and noninferiority of various speech-language pathology services across adult populations, including chronic aphasia, Parkinson's disease, dysphagia, and primary progressive aphasia. Technical aspects of the equipment and software used to deliver services were discussed. Some general themes were noted as areas for future research. Conclusion Overall, results of the review continue to support the use of telepractice as an appropriate service delivery model in speech-language pathology for adults. Strong research designs, including experimental control, across multiple well-described settings are still needed to definitively determine effectiveness of telepractice services.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (95) ◽  
pp. 50-53
Author(s):  
Aleksej A. Kravcov ◽  
◽  
Leonid G. Limonov ◽  
Valerij V. Sinelnikov ◽  
Stanislav V. Potapov

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt D Shulver ◽  
Nicholas A Badcock

We report the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the relationship between perceptual anchoring and dyslexia. Our goal was to assess the direction and degree of effect between perceptual anchoring and reading ability in typical and atypical (dyslexic) readers. We performed a literature search of experiments explicitly assessing perceptual anchoring and reading ability using PsycInfo (Ovid, 1860 to 2020), MEDLINE (Ovid, 1860 to 2019), EMBASE (Ovid, 1883 to 2019), and PubMed for all available years up to June (2020). Our eligibility criteria consisted of English-language articles and, at minimum, one experimental group identified as dyslexic - either by reading assessment at the time, or by previous diagnosis. We assessed for risk of bias using an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Six studies were included in this review, but only five (n = 280 participants) were included in the meta-analysis (we were unable to access the necessary data for one study).The overall effect was negative, large and statistically significant; g = -0.87, 95% CI [-1.47, 0.27]: a negative effect size indicating less perceptual anchoring in dyslexic versus non-dyslexic groups. Visual assessment of funnel plot and Egger’s test suggest minimal bias but with significant heterogeneity; Q (4) = 9.70, PI (prediction interval) [-2.32, -0.58]. The primary limitation of the current review is the small number of included studies. We discuss methodological limitations, such as limited power, and how future research may redress these concerns. The variability of effect sizes appears consistent with the inherent variability within subtypes of dyslexia. This level of dispersion seems indicative of the how we define cut-off thresholds between typical reading and dyslexia populations, but also the methodological tools we use to investigate individual performance.


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