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Aims The literature review aimed to identify the barriers the Punjabi and/or Sikh community have in accessing support for alcohol addiction. Method A systematic review of the literature was undertaken of four scholarly databases, Google Scholar and grey literature on UK-based research conducted after 1980 into alcohol addiction in the Punjabi and/or Sikh community. Fourteen papers met the inclusion criteria outlined in the paper and were included in the review. Results Ten main barriers to accessing support were found; stigma, religion, lack of understanding of addiction, over reliance on a medical model of treatment and disregard of therapy, cultural implications of being a member of the Punjabi and/or Sikh community and the addiction community, gender and generational differences and a lack of government commitment to alcohol support for BME communities with a lack of culturally specific services. Conclusion Despite the many barriers explored, the role of stigma remained a powerful theme throughout often underpinning other barriers. A key recommendation across many papers was the need for culturally sensitive support services. Several areas for future research were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been significant research on the relationship between alcohol consumption and demographic and psychological influences, this does not consider the effect of social influence among older drinkers and if these effects differ between men and women. One aspect of social influence is social capital. The aim of this paper is to examine whether relational and cognitive social capital are associated with higher or lower risk of alcohol use among adults aged 50 years or older and to assess the extent to which this relationship differs between men and women. To investigate this, data were collected from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of adults over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom who were recruited from general practitioners. The sample consisted of 9,984 individuals whose mean age was 63.87 years. From these data, we developed proxy measures of social capital and associate these with the respondent's level of alcohol consumption as measured on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-10) scale. In the sample, just over 20 per cent reported an increasing risk or dependency on alcohol. Using two expressions of social capital – relational (social relationships) and cognitive (knowledge acquisition and understanding) – we found that greater levels of both are associated with a reduced risk of higher drinking risk. Being female had no significant effect when combined with relational capital but did have a significant effect when combined with cognitive capital. It is argued that interventions to enhance social relations among older people and education to help understand alcohol risks would be helpful to protect older people from the damaging effects of excessive alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Opportunities to gamble have boomed in the UK in recent years, since the passing of the Gambling Act 2005. The implications of this for adults with care and support needs and for safeguarding services have not been greatly investigated. The purpose of this paper is to address the interface of how gambling affects adults with care and support needs in England and adult safeguarding.Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on the scoping review which focussed on adults with care and support needs and gambling-related harm. It also included literature on perpetrators who exploit adults with care and support needs to fund their own or others’ gambling. The overall aims of this scoping review were to explore what is known about gambling-related harm affecting adults with care and support needs, the gaps in the evidence base, and specifically to refine the interview questions for the wider study.Findings There is some evidence that adults with care and support needs experience or are at risk of gambling-related harm. There is, however, lack of data from safeguarding services about this affecting adults at risk and safeguarding practice and systems. A public health approach to gambling is advocated by some, as well as effective regulation and support for people who have problems with their own or others’ gambling.Originality/value Industry operators, practitioners, and policymakers are increasingly paying attention to gambling-related harm but there is a lack of focus on adults with care and support needs or implications for adult safeguarding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, the primary public health response to injecting drug use in the UK has been one of harm reduction. That is, reducing the harms associated with drug use without necessarily reducing consumption itself. Rooted in a post-Enlightenment idea of rationalism, interventions are premised on the rational individual who, given the right means, will choose to avoid harm. This lies in stark contrast to dominant addiction models that pervade popular images of the ‘out of control’ drug user, or worse, ‘junkie’. Whilst harm reduction has undoubtedly had vast successes, including challenging the otherwise pathologising and often stigmatising model of addiction, I argue that it has not gone far enough in addressing aspects of drug use that go beyond ‘rational’ and ‘human’ control. Drawing on my doctoral research with people who inject drugs, conducted in London, UK, this paper highlights the role of the injecting ‘event’, which far from being directed or controlled by a pre-defined individual or ‘body’ was composed by a fragile assemblage of bodies, human and nonhuman. Furthermore, in line with the ‘event’s’ heterogeneous and precarious make-up, multiple ways of ‘becoming’ through these events were possible. I look here at these ‘becomings’ as both stabilising and destabilising ways of being in the world, and argue that we need to pay closer attention to these events and what people are actually in the process of becoming in order to enact more accountable and ‘response-able’ harm reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Positive outcomes of social networking use in both informal and non-educational settings have attracted significant research attention. These benefits include social capital formation, higher job performance and satisfaction, an increased sense of belonging, improved knowledge management skills, and enabling of life-long learning opportunities. Compulsive use of social networking, however, remains a major issue among the younger users, potentially leaving a long-lasting impact on the younger population. Concerns have been raised regarding links between the compulsive use of social media and individual academic, social and physical performance. This study explores the motivations for social networking use, their relations to compulsive use, and implications for academic, physical and social performance, in an effort to inform strategies for the appropriate adoption and utilisation of social networking technologies. The study employs a finite mixture approach to segmenting the sample, and results show that two distinct groups motivated by utilitarian and social objectives respectively drive compulsive use by British students. Unlike previous studies, the UK sample does not display differences in terms of age or gender. This finding highlights the trend of gender agnostic views of social platforms by developers. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video gamers can play to negate the psychological impact of stress, which may become problematic when users over-rely on the stress relief potential of gaming. This study used a repeated measures experimental design to investigate the relationships between stress, video gaming, and problematic video gaming behaviours in a convenience sample of 40 students at a UK university. The results indicated that positive affect increased and negative affect decreased, whilst a biological stress measure (instantaneous pulse rate) also decreased after a short video gaming session (t(36) = 4.82, p < 0.001, d = 0.79). The results also suggested that video gaming can act as a short-term buffer against the physiological impact of stress. Further research should focus on testing individuals who have been tested for gaming disorder, as opposed to the general population. Research could also utilise variations of the methodological framework used in this study to examine the intensity of a stress relief effect under different social situations. The study's findings in relation to published works are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Britain's first wave of non-therapeutic drug users during the 1960s were more likely to come into contact with the criminal courts than previous, therapeutic, drug users. This paper recounts the untold history of probation officers' work with drug misusing offenders in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. Methods Using 'snowballing' to source participants (in which study subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances) and in-depth interviews as a means of eliciting information, probation officers who had supervised drug users during this time were interviewed about their experiences. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a thematic data set produced. Results Front-line probation officers in the United Kingdom in the 1960s had considerable contact with drug-misusing offenders. In explaining drug addiction, officers tended to draw upon a psychotherapeutic interpretation, and in terms of intervention they relied heavily upon the psychiatric services to deliver treatment. Probation officers did not always make the connection between addiction and an increase in criminality. Conclusion In Britain's first wave of non-therapeutic drug users in the 1960s, probation officers appear not to have made a connection with criminality, which may have limited how far they developed a formalized approach to applying the expertise of the Probation Service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to contribute to the understanding of addiction formation and maintenance by exploring the relationships between Dark Triad (DT) personality trait levels and addiction tendencies to "substances" and "processes." Incorporating an adapted "Addiction as Excessive Appetites" model within a biopsychosocial framework, relationships between DT trait levels, alcohol, and exercise addictions were examined. Two hundred and eighty-nine adults living in the UK (192 women, 97 men) completed an online questionnaire measuring DT trait levels and indicative addiction scores to alcohol (substance) and exercise (process). These were interrogated using correlation analysis, group mean comparisons and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Significant positive correlations were found between psychopathic, grandiose narcissistic and Machiavellian trait levels with addiction scores to alcohol and exercise. MANOVA demonstrated significant main effects of alcohol and exercise with respect to DT trait levels. In most cases, those in the higher addiction risk groups showed higher psychopathic and Machiavellian trait scores. Given the positive associations between DT trait levels and addiction and elevated DT levels in highest risk groups, the data was consistent with the proposed model. Machiavellianism trait levels were more strongly associated with process and substance addictions than found in previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Loot boxes are purchasable randomised rewards in video games that share structural and psychological similarities with gambling. Systematic review evidence has established reproducible associations between loot box purchasing and both problem gambling and problem video gaming. We aimed to measure the association between loot box engagement and socioeconomic correlates. Design The study was a cross‐sectional online survey using the recruitment platform, Prolific. Setting: United Kingdom (UK). Participants: A cohort of 16 196 UK adults (18 + years) self‐reporting as video gamers. Measurements Respondents were asked about their game‐related purchasing behaviour (including loot boxes), recent monthly spend on loot boxes and gambling engagement (gambling in any form; gambling online; playing 'social casino' games). A range of demographic variables were simultaneously captured, including age, sex, ethnicity, earnings, employment and educational attainment. Findings Overall, 17.16% of gamers in our cohort purchased loot boxes, with a mean self‐reported monthly spend of £29.12. These loot box purchasers are more likely to gamble (45.97% gamble) than people who make other types of game‐related purchases (on aggregate, 28.13% of non‐loot box purchasers gamble), and even greater still than those who do not make any game related purchases (24.38% gamble P < 0.001). Loot box engagement (as binary yes/no or as monthly spend normalised to earnings) was significantly associated with younger age (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001; respectively, for binary yes/no and monthly spend, adjusted for false discovery rate correction), male sex (P < 0.001 and P = 0.025), non‐university educational attainment (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001) and unemployment (P = 0.003 and P = < 0.001). Lower earners spent a higher proportion of monthly earnings on loot boxes (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The demographic associations of video game loot box engagement (younger age, male sex, non‐university educational attainment and unemployment) mirror those of other addictive and problematic behaviours, including disordered gambling, drug and alcohol misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction of gambling-like features within video games (e.g., loot boxes) new forms of hybrid-gambling products have emerged, yet little is known about their relationship to gambling and problem gambling among those most likely to engage: young people. This article examines the relationship between the purchase of loot boxes, gambling behavior, and problem gambling among young people ages 16–24. Cross-sectional data were analyzed from wave 1 of the Emerging Adults Gambling Survey, an online survey of 3,549 people, aged 16–24. Data were weighted to reflect the age, sex, and regional profile of Great Britain. Measured included past-year purchase of loot boxes, engagement in 17 different forms of gambling (weekly, yearly, and weekly spend); and problem gambling status. Other covariates include impulsivity and sociodemographic status. Young adults who purchase loot boxes are more likely to be gamblers and experience problem gambling than others. In unadjusted regression models, the odds of problem gambling were 11.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.6 to 16.9; p < 0.001) times higher among those who purchased loot boxes with their own money. This relationship attenuated but remained significant (odds ratio 4.5, 95% CI 2.6–7.9) when gambling participation, impulsivity, and sociodemographic factors were taken into account. The purchase of loot boxes was highly associated with problem gambling, the strength of this association being of similar magnitude to gambling online on casino games or slots. Young adults purchasing loot boxes within video games should be considered a high-risk group for the experience of gambling problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To understand the experiences of carers who were confronted by the development of impulsive and compulsive behaviours. Background: Impulsive and compulsive behaviours (ICBs) are a serious complication in Parkinson's disease (PD) strongly associated with dopamine replacement therapy used to treat patients. These behaviours comprise abnormal activities such as pathological gambling, binge eating, compulsive shopping and hypersexuality. These behaviours place a considerable burden on patients and on their carers and families. Design: An exploratory qualitative study. Methods: Using a convenience sampling approach, 13 carers were recruited to participate in semi‐structured interviews. Interviews were conducted over the telephone. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. COREQ guidelines were adhered to in the reporting of this study. Results: Five main themes were identified: (a) realisation—developing awareness of ICB symptoms and their causes; (b) reacting—confronting and attempts to manage ICBs; (c) reaching out—help‐seeking and selective disclosure; (d) reframing—shifting perspectives on ICBs over time; and (e) resignation—impact on relationships and facing the future. Conclusions: The profound impact of ICBs on quality of life, relationships and economic stability was clear in the carers' accounts. Possible avenues for future clinical research are suggested. Relevance to clinical practice: The potentially devastating effects of ICBs provide a strong imperative for nurses and other health professionals to ensure that close monitoring for symptom development together with patient education is always part of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines differences between Christians, Muslims and non-religious people in COVID-19-related fear, social isolation, and compulsive buying. A sample of 411 participants in the United Kingdom completed a survey consisting of measures of political trust, social isolation, compulsive buying behaviours, fear of COVID-19 and their preferred source of information regarding COVID-19. Christians reported a stronger social network, more political trust but more fear of COVID-19 than non-religious people, and Muslims reported more fear of COVID-19 and more compulsive buying than non-religious people. Non-religious people accessed more varied sources of information regarding COVID-19 than Christians and Muslims. Finally, source of information regarding COVID-19 affected levels of political trust, fear of COVID-19, social isolation and compulsive buying behaviours. Religious groups exhibit varying levels of fear, social isolation and compulsive buying. Public health messaging and awareness-raising campaigns tailored to particular religious groups may be effective in reducing the psychological burden of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: E‐cigarettes (EC) and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) are less harmful than smoking, but misperceptions of relative harm are common. Aims were to (1) assess nicotine knowledge and perceptions of: harm of EC and NRT relative to smoking, addictiveness of EC relative to smoking, and change in harm to user if smoking replaced with EC; (2) define associations of these perceptions with respondent characteristics including nicotine knowledge; and (3) explore perceived main harms of EC and whether these differ by vaping status. Design Analyses were: (1) frequencies; (2) logistic regressions of perceptions of relative harm, addictiveness and change in harm onto demographics, smoking and vaping status and nicotine knowledge (attributing cancer or health risks of smoking to nicotine); and (3) frequencies and χ2 statistics. Setting and participants: Participants were smokers and recent ex‐smokers from one wave (September 2017) of a longitudinal online survey in the United Kingdom (n = 1720). Measurements Demographics included gender, age, smoking status, vaping status and income. Survey questions collected data on nicotine knowledge and harm perceptions of different products; the relative harm perceptions of NRT, EC and tobacco cigarettes; and perceived main harms of EC. Findings Relative to smoking, 57.3% perceived EC and 63.4% NRT to be less harmful; 25.4% perceived EC to be less addictive; and 32.2% thought replacing smoking with EC reduced health harms a great deal. Participants were less likely to endorse these beliefs if they had never vaped, and participants who had inaccurate nicotine knowledge were less likely to endorse all these beliefs apart from the addictiveness of EC. The main concerns about EC were a lack of research (48.3%), regulation or quality control (37.8%) and harmfulness of chemicals (41.6%). Conclusions: Large proportions of UK smokers and ex‐smokers overestimate the relative harmfulness of e‐cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy compared with smoking; misattributing smoking harms to nicotine is associated with increased misperceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of treatment dropout in a sample of gamblers attending a specialist clinic for gambling disorder. We analysed data on 846 treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Firstly, we investigated differences in socio-demographic and clinical variables between treatment completers and pre-treatment dropouts, as well as between treatment completers and during-treatment dropouts. Subsequently, variables were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model to identify significant predictors of pre-treatment and in-treatment dropout. Overall, 44.8% of clients did not complete the treatment: 27.4% dropped out before starting it, while 17.4% dropped out during the treatment. Younger age and use of drugs were associated with pre-treatment dropout, while family history of gambling disorder, a lower PGSI score, and being a smoker were related with in-treatment dropout. Our findings suggest that pre-treatment dropouts differ from in-treatment dropouts, and, thus, further research will benefit from considering these groups separately. In addition, this newly gained knowledge will also be helpful in increasing treatment retention in specific subgroups of problem gamblers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media reports suggest high rates of gambling amongst professional footballers but little is known about how footballers develop and then seek help for gambling problems. Here, we report the findings of in-depth, qualitative interviews with 11 British professional footballers who had, or who were, being treated for gambling problems at a residential clinic. These individuals experienced gambling as a highly salient feature of life as a professional football player in UK professional leagues. Often gambling began as part of social networks of young players, but then progressed to gambling problematically in isolation. Factors that facilitated this transition included structural aspects of professional football as an occupation (e.g. high salaries, spare time, gambling as a shared leisure pursuit) as well as the competitive and emotional challenges of the game (e.g. loss of form, injury or contract release and their effects upon mood). Seeking help was delayed by a reluctance to disclose problems to peers and club managers, but facilitated by recommendations from other players with similar experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study which estimate prevalence of gambling among European professional athletes and explore factors that are associated with gambling practice and gambling problems in professional athletes. It states that self-completion questionnaire was designed for this study and socio-demographic variables, variables linked to gambling and impulsive behavior data were gathered. It mentions that instruments used for screening problem gambling were all validated.

The regulation of commercial gambling in Great Britain is the responsibility of the Gambling Commission, the regulatory agency created by the Gambling Act 2005. This article examines the risk model that it has developed in order to assess operator risks to the Act's licensing objectives. These are to prevent gambling from becoming a source of crime, to ensure that gambling is fair and open, and to protect children and other vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. The article discusses four factors that affect the implementation of this model: operator compliance, the regulatory environment, the regulatory toolkit and the Commission's approach to its regulatory responsibilities. Its regulatory ideology sits squarely within the neo-liberal mode of regulation that has been pursued in Great Britain since the 1980s. By reference to political and public disquiet concerning gaming machines, the article analyses the tensions between the state, the regulator, the gambling industry and its consumers to which this mode of regulation gives rise. The article examines the challenges that the Commission faces in seeking to adopt a regulatory stance that is defensible both in terms of the protection of the public and the demands of a liberal market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Increased intensities of routinised and compulsive-like behaviours are seen in those with intellectual disabilities and have sometimes been shown to be associated with worries. We used the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI, Evans et al., 1997) with two samples of children and adults with Down syndrome: (1) to determine whether routinised and compulsive-like behaviours were associated with mental health problems and (2) to determine the factor structure of the CRI. Method Parents or carers completed the CRI for (1) 125 adults with Down syndrome (aged 18-43 years) who had been assessed for mental health problems; worries and fears were also rated by parents/carers and (2) 206 individuals with Down syndrome (aged 4.5-43 years, with verbal mental ages of 2 years and above). Results (1) People with a psychiatric diagnosis had significantly more worries and fears than those without such a diagnosis, but there was no significant difference in CRI scores. Logistic regression indicated that the fear rating was the only significant predictor of a diagnosis. (2) Exploratory and confirmatory analyses showed a three-factor model (Just right, Repetitive behaviour and Clothes sensitivity) to be the best solution. Those with psychiatric diagnoses had significantly higher ratings on the Repetitive behaviour factor. Conclusion Increased levels of routinised and compulsive-like behaviours were shown by individuals with Down syndrome of all ages, were not associated with mental health problems, but were associated with worries and fears. Factor analysis found three factors, two of which (Just right and Repetitive behaviours), were similar to those identified in typically developing samples. This suggests that the behaviours have similar adaptive functions in individuals with developmental delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundLittle is known about the factors influencing the stability of obsessive–compulsive behaviour (OCB) from childhood to adolescence. The current study aimed to investigate: (1) the stability of paediatric OCB over a 12-year period; (2) the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence stability; and (3) the extent to which these influences are stable or dynamic across development.MethodThe sample included 14 743 twins from a population-based study. Parental ratings of severity of OCB were collected at ages 4, 7, 9 and 16 years.ResultsOCB was found to be moderately stable over time. The genetic influence on OCB at each age was moderate, with significant effects also of non-shared environment. Genetic factors exerted a substantial influence on OCB persistence, explaining 59–80% of the stability over time. The results indicated genetic continuity, whereby genetic influences at each age continue to affect the expression of OCB at subsequent ages. However, we also found evidence for genetic attenuation in that genetic influences at one age decline in their influence over time, and genetic innovation whereby new genes ‘come on line’ at each age. Non-shared environment influenced stability of OCB to a lesser extent and effects were largely unique to each age and displayed negligible influences on OCB at later time points.ConclusionsOCB appears to be moderately stable across development, and stability is largely driven by genetic factors. However, the genetic effects are not entirely constant, but rather the genetic influence on OCB appears to be a developmentally dynamic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]