There is a growing trend to consider pathological gambling (PG) as an addictive behavior. Attentional bias (AB) occurs when the attentional channeling is directed towards emotionally valued stimuli despite an individual's effort to ignore them. This paradigm has been widely used to assess other addictions such as alcoholism and cocaine misuse. AB has been assessed in PG using the modified Stroop procedure. Despite that, to date, other procedures such as the dot-probe task have not been used.

To develop a dot-probe task to assess AB in PG.

We selected 38 gambling-related pictures that were validated using the Self-Assessment Manikin Visual Analogical Scale (SAM-VAS). This scale measures the pleasure, arousal, and dominance associated with a person's affective reaction to a wide variety of stimuli. We applied the scale to 20 subjects who met DSM-IV criteria for PG and to 20 matched control subjects.

From 38 preselected pictures, 25 had an affective valence and enough intensity to be selected for the subsequent development of the dot-probe task.

To date, the modified Stroop procedure has been the only task carried out to assess AB in gamblers. These gambling-related pictures will be used to develop a dot-probe task to assess AB in pathological gamblers. In addition, we will assess the Eye movement task and Event-related Potentials, as direct measures of AB.

Gray's theory of personality distinguishes two personality dimensions: Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS). This construct has been widely used in the field of addictions and the study of impulsivity. BIS and BAS can be measured using the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). This questionnaire has been carried out in cross-sectional studies related to alcohol misuse, eating disorders, pathological gambling and cannabis misuse.

To study Sensitivity to Reward and Sensitivity to Punishment as factors that could predict the development of Alcohol Dependence.

380 subjects completed the SPSRQ at the beginning of the study and were followed-up for 4 years. At this point, participants completed a protocol that assessed drinking-related variables and drinking patterns. Statistic was performed using regression analysis.

Low scores obtained in the Reward Sensitivity Subscale was a significant predictor for developing an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). High scores obtained in the Punishment Sensitivity Subscale were not significantly related to the subsequent development of an AUD.

Low scores obtained in the Reward Sensitivity Subscale predict a higher risk for the development of Alcohol Dependence. This could be due to more difficulties that these individuals exhibit, despite the negative consequences, when they have to inhibit their seeking behavior and intake of alcohol.

During the last two decades illicit drug use in Belgrade has been changed.Previously, one of the most common methods of illicit heroin use was via intravenous injection. In 1987, injecting drug, as main consumption patterns was accepted by 90,6% of patients, although intravenous administration fell to 75,5% in 1995.

The aim of the study was to observe if the main pattern of heroin consumption had changed lately.

The study included 382 illicit drug users (mean age 28,8 ± 4,7; both gender) treated in Special Hospital for Addiction, Belgrade in period of a year (Sept. 2009–2010).We used data from Pompidou questionnaire and calculated prevalence through standard survey technique.

A total of 94,5% respondents reported a lifetime prevalence of heroin as a main drug, 1,1% of other opiates, 0,3% of cocaine and amphetamine. More than 92,7% of respondents used heroin in the last month regularly. The lifetime prevalence consumption mode for intranasal use was 44,3%, injecting 39,8% and smoking/ inhaling 13,9%.First injectable route experience is reported for age 17–19 = 11.9%; for 20–22 = 25.6%; for 23–26 = 30-3%. The total number of 79,8% reported negative HIV testing result, 0,5% positive result.

The consumption model changed in last 10 years and our study confirmed significant diversity. Intranasal administration linked with young population of heroin addicts, who never or rarely use injectable route with low level of HIV infection. Older addicts prefer intravenous use and often change to intranasal route later, for safety or damaged process of peripheral blood vessel.

It was the aim of this study to estimate effects of alcohol abuse on early retirement and premature death in the working population with special emphasis on alcohol related absenteeism from work and inpatient treatment.

Sample consisted of 125.019 resp. 128.001 health insurance clients up to age 58 resp. 74 were used. Mean follow-up period was 6.4 years. Excess risks were calculated with Cox regression models adjusted for age, gender, education and job classification.

Both alcohol-related absenteeism from work (without inpatient treatment) and detoxification treatment were associated with higher risks of early retirement (RR 2.59, CI 2.21–3.04, p < 0.001; RR 2.29, CI 1.99–2.62, p < 0.001) and premature death (RR 3.26 CI 2.74–3.88, p < 0.001; RR 4.41, CI 3.90–4.98, p < 0.001).

Further analysis showed higher risks of early retirement for males. Females who sought inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse/addiction had the highest risk of premature death (RR 7.75, CI 5.61–10.68, p < 0.001). Marked increases of the risks for permanent disablity and death during the follow-up period could also be oberserved after all-cause inpatient treatment in patients with a comorbid alcohol problem.

The detrimental effect of alcoholism on life expectancy and capacity to work is considerable after absenteeism from work, psychiatric treatment and all-cause inpatient treatment. While female patients in detoxification wards are a minority, they may be more strongly affected by the somatic complications of alcohol abuse. Nevertheless, strong selection biases in this subsample need to be considered and the data interpreted with caution.

IV drug abuse is a medical and social problem in countries all over the world including Iran

Knowing about the characteristics of drug abuser could help policy makers to have more precise plan of action for prevention and management of addiction

This study was designed to investigate the demographic characteristics of IV drug abusers in Iran and determining the risk factors for shifting to IV drug abuse.

150 intravenous drug addicts (147 males and 3 females) aged 19–61 referred to opiate detoxification centers in Yazd city in autumn 2008 were randomly enrolled to this descriptive cross sectional study. Data collection was undertaken through a structured interview, a questionnaire for demographic data and written documents at detoxification centers. Analysis of data was done with SPSS software (version 13).

There was positive family history of addiction in 56.7%, known psychiatric illness in 43.3%, known physical disease in 32% and history of psychotropic medication abuse in 58% of participants. The mean age of onset in opium and its derivatives abusers was 19.12, heroin abusers 23.5 and IV bupropion abusers 27.2 years. The most common injecting drug at the time of study was heroin (65.2%).

Family history of addiction, psychiatric disease, physical illness and low education could all be risk factors for exacerbating an addiction. Identification of these risk factors could lead to the development of interventions to reduce the burden of addiction. Further research about this subject is required to determine if this is true.

Codependency is a dysfunctional style of close relation with alcoholic, as so risk factor of stress related mental disturbances.

Assessment of general health, as so the occurrence and correlation of the codependency features, traumatic experiences and the symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder -PTSD in the women from alcoholic families.

39 women from alcoholic families and 18 controls were screened with the General Health Questionnaire GHQ-28. In the group of women from alcoholic families the occurrence and correlation of: the features of codependency, traumatic experiences and PTSD symptoms, were compared in 12 psychiatrically hospitalized and 27 non hospitalized women from alcoholics families.

The average total GHQ-28 scores were significantly higher in the both groups of hospitalized (9,58) and non hospitalized (6,46) women from alcoholics families comparing with the controls (1,72). The percentages of: women with codependency features, women reporting traumatic experiences as so women reffering symptoms of PTSD did not differ significantly in hospitalized and non hospitalized groups. There was correlation between the number and intensity of traumatic experiences, PTSD symptoms and features of codependency in women from alcoholic families.

Codependency in the women in alcoholic families is frequently co-occurring with increased number of traumatic experiences, and PTSD symptoms. In the cases of mentally ill women living in alcoholic families the appropriate psychotherapy is needed besides the pharmacological reduction of the psychopathological symptoms. Usefulness of the GHQ-12. in screening mental disturbances in the persons from alcoholic families was confirmed.

Alcohol and tobacco dependence are correlated: Alcohol addicted subjects are three times more likely to be smokers than the general population, and people who are dependent on tobacco are four times more likely to suffer from alcohol dependency than the general population.

Some authors indicate it is too difficult to quit both alcohol and tobacco and that tobacco withdrawal may jeopardise the alcohol recovery. Numerous studies however showed the benefit of tobacco cessation by subjects with alcohol use disorder.

The aim of this study was to examine the outcome of tobacco withdrawal in patients addicted to alcohol and tobacco in an inpatient alcohol therapy unit.

Patients admitted to our institute for alcohol dependence were invited to participate in a smoking withdrawal program after completing alcohol withdrawal therapy.

106 subjects could be reached. 31.1% were female and 68.9% male.

67% have completed the 3 week tobacco therapy program, 33% withdrew.

22.6% found it difficult to quit smoking after alcohol withdrawal.

53.8% accomplished abstinence for at least 1 week, 27.6% remained abstinent for more than 1 year.

71.7% of the subjects who still smoked could reduce their cigarette consume.

3.8% suffered from alcohol craving.

We can see a tendency that the risk of relapse is lower for tobacco abstinent patients than for smokers.

The results showed a clear tendency that the risk for alcohol relapse in tobacco abstinent patients is lower than for smokers. We recommend withdrawing alcohol and nicotine during an inpatient stay.

Psychiatric concomitant diseases are common with alcohol and tobacco dependent patients. Few studies have compared comorbidities between alcohol dependent smokers and non-smokers.

The aim of this study is to examine the pattern of psychiatric comorbidity among alcohol dependent smokers in an inpatient alcohol therapy unit.

After successfully completing withdrawal therapy, subjects between the ages of 18–65 years who meet the ICD 10 criteria for alcohol dependence and no criteria for other drug use disorder except smoking, and who were participating in an inpatient treatment program for alcohol dependence at Anton Proksch Institut were included.

This is a preliminary analysis of the survey. In total 81 patients could be examined. 53.1% of the interviewed subjects were female and 46.9% male. The explored samples age ranged from 21–66 years.

74.1% of the questioned subjects were smokers, 60% of these patients smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day.

Preliminary analysis shows that smoking alcohol dependent patients present a higher comorbidity rate than non-smokers but above all they show a tendency to increased anxiety disorders. Within the population of smokers 48.3% suffer from an anxiety disorder, 48.3% from depression and dysthymia, 12.1% from manic and hypomanic disorder and 5.2% from psychosis. These differences are not clinically significant. This can be explained by the small number of the sample and by the group allocation.

Alcohol addicted patients exhibit heightened psychiatric comorbidity. Smoking alcohol dependents are more frequently affected and have a disposition to psychiatric disorders.

About 65 percent of patients with myocardial infarction experience mental and emotional problems like depression and anxiety that causes delay in the return to work, decreased quality of life and increased risk of death.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of education on anxiety and depression in patients with myocardial infarction in Urmia hospitals in 2009.

This study was a quasi-experimental study that compares the effect of education on anxiety and depression in patients with myocardial infarction in the Urmia University of medical science hospitals. 124 patients were selected randomly and divided into two groups. The experimental group was educated through face to face training and educational booklet. Control group did not receive any intervention.

Level of anxiety and depression was evaluated by using HADS questionnaire at 3 intervals after 48 hours of admission, discharge day and 2 months after discharge.

There was no significant difference between control and experimental groups before the intervention, But after the intervention, anxiety and depression in the experimental group was significantly less than controls, p < 0.05.

Considering the beneficial results obtained from education on reducing anxiety and depression in patients with myocardial infarction, it should be one of the health care goals.

In the last decades the relationship between religiosity/spirituality (R/S), personal beliefs and mental health has been extensively studied, indicating a significant correlation of these variables. However, the specific relation of R/S to anxiety disorders has been less investigated.

The objective of this prospective study is the investigation of the relation of R/S, magical ideation (MI) and paranormal beliefs (PB) to anxiety disorders in general and OCD in particular, in order to specifically determine a possible impact of these variables on psychopathology scores. In addition, the relation between R/S, PB and MI can be systematically investigated.

Unselected samples with OCD and other anxiety disorders have been equally assessed within the first week after admission with a face-to-face interview including the following instruments: MINI, HAMD, HAMA and Y-BOCS, OCI-R, STAI, Brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiosity/Spirituality, Magical Ideation Scale and Revised Paranormal Beliefs Scale. Forty healthy participants with no psychiatric history served as controls.

Groups did not differ in any aspect of R/S, MI, or PB. Almost all scales referring to R/S, PB and MI were positively correlated to each other. The results showed a strong positive correlation between high scores of negative religious coping and high psychopathology scores in depression and anxiety. On the other hand, there was a significant positive correlation between MI scores and initial OCD and anxiety scores.

This study verifies a significant correlation between personal beliefs and psychopathology in OCD and anxiety disorders. Implications for further research are discussed.

The aim of the current investigation was to explore gender related differences in anxiety among undergraduates from 22 countries.

Standard Arabic Version of the Kuwait University Anxiety scale (comprised of 20 brief statements, answered on a 4-point intensity scale, anchored by 1: Rarely and 4: Always) was administered to Arabic undergraduates, recruited from the following countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudis Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, U.A. Emirate, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. (n = 608, 271, 879, 842, 948, 780, 782, 435, 154, 393, 342, 833, 1185, 275, 291, 295, 375, & 706. While the English Version was administered to American (n = 273) and Pakistan (n = 462) samples, the Germen version was administered to the Germen subjects (n = 157), Moreover the Spanish version was administered to the Spanish sample (n = 312).

It was found that females significantly had higher mean anxiety scores than did their male counterparts in 15 countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Pakistan, American, & Spain.

Female preponderance of anxiety has been a consistent finding. In the present researcher opinion, the anxiety score of any given person is the end product of both biological and psychosocial factors and their interaction. Furthermore, the response styles, especially social desirability and the tendency to hyperbole had an impact on anxiety score.

Panic disorder with or without agoraphobia is one of the most disabling anxiety disorders. It has severe consequences on psychosocial functioning and quality of life of patients.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality of life in a population of patients treated for panic disorder.

Thirty patients were evaluated using a standardized questionnaire exploring socio-demographic parameters, clinical parameters and evolutionary parameters. It also explore the the disorder impact on social life, family and work.

Assessing the quality of life was performed using the (SF-36). This scale includes 36 questions divided into eight dimensions.

Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS in its 18th version.

The average age of our population was 42.07 years with extremes ranging from 22 to 71years. The sex ratio was 1.

The socioeconomic level was low in 56.7% of cases, medium in 40% of cases and high in 3.3% of cases.

Half of the patients reported having marital conflicts; these conflicts had led to divorce in 3.3% of cases.

Regarding the professional impact of panic disorder, 33.3% of patients were off work, and 20% used sick leave.

The overall average scores of the SF-36 of all patients ranged from 0 to 76 with an average of 37, 98 and a standard deviation of 18.46.

Ninety percent had impaired quality of life (overall mean score of less than 66, 7) All dimensions are altered in 100% of the cases except D1 (physical dimension) that is altered in 63.7% of cases.

To determine the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders in Qatari population who attend the primary health care settings and examine their symptoms patterns and co-morbidity.

A cross sectional.

Primary health care center, Qatar

A total of 2080 Qatari subjects aged 18 to 65 years were approached and 1660 (79.8%) patients participated in this study.

The study was based on a face to face interview with a designed diagnostic screening questionnaire which consists of 17 questions about symptoms and signs of anxiety and depression disorders. Physicians determined the definitive diagnosis for depression and anxiety disorders by further checking and screening their symptoms.

The overall prevalence of depression and anxiety disorder was 13.5% and 10.3% respectively. Qatari women were at higher risk for depression (53.1% vs 46.9%) and anxiety disorder (56.7% vs 43.3%) compared to men. More than half of the sufferers with anxiety (56.7%) and depression (53.1%) were Qatari women with a higher frequency in the age group 18

34 years. There were significant differences between men and women with depression in terms of age group (p = 0.004), marital status (p = 0.04), occupation (p < 0.001) and household income (p = 0.002). Nervousness was the most common symptom in subjects with anxiety disorders (68.4%), whereas sleep difficulty was the most common symptom in subjects with depressive disorder (59.4%).

The depression was more prevalent in Qatari than anxiety disorders. The high risk groups of depression and anxiety disorders were being female, married, middle aged and highly educated.

Children's fears are not only a part of their development but can also reflect unique cultural and societal norms as well as the influence of current affairs on cognition & behaviour

Identifying prevalent fears in children of Karachi,Pakistan and gender/age differences.

Identifying common fears and assessing the impact of sociopolitical factors on children's perception

1171 children (731 boys, 440 girls) from classes 3–10 of a large school were selected and completed the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (Revised).

The highest overall fear was of’Bombing attacks/being invaded’, which was also the highest in boys (’Snakes’ in girls). The greatest gender difference was seen in the fear of lizards (p < 0.001). The overall average FSSC-R score was 133(27.5) and frequency of intense fears was 16(12.4), both higher in girls. Younger children had greater scores and intense fears compared to adolescents.

Children are uniquely sensitive to “adult” issues, evidenced by the highest fear overall: bombing attacks/invasions, while fear of terrorists also ranked high (#11). Fears related to academic performance increased with age whereas younger children were more fearful of items perceived as causing physical harm; reflecting that stresses of education displace fears of danger and injury. Of the ten items with the greatest gender-differences, all belonged to the “Minor Injury/Small Animals” category. Lastly, comparison with previous studies showed no significant difference (p > 0.1) in either total scores or intensity of fears, suggesting that despite varying individual fears the overall profile remained constant for children of different cultures.

Although there is considerable evidence on the impact of negative life events during childhood on the etiology of psychiatric disorders, little is known about the specific influence on the social anxiety disorder. The objective of the study was to examine this association.

In a cross-sectional survey in 571 university students we analysed the association between loss of someone close, emotional abuse, physical abuse, family violence and sexual abuse with social anxiety assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale.

Twenty percent of the sample had social anxiety and 50,6% had an early negative life events in childhood. After controlling for family psychiatric history and gender only family violence was associated with an increased risk of social anxiety (OR = 4.63; 95%CI = 1.13–18.9).

This study found childhood family violence associated with social phobia in university students.