Assessment and Intervention of Addictive Behavior
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 4374
Special Issue Editors
Interests: addiction; dependence; substance use; new technology; cognitive training; serious games; cognitive functions
Interests: addictive behaviours; new technologies; serious games; intelligence; learning processes; adolescence; risk-behaviours; self-regulation
Interests: cognitive processes; metacognition; emotional intelligence; self-regulation; learning processes; e-learning; new technologies; cyberbullying; smartphone addiction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Addiction is a "complex and progressive pattern of behavior that has biological, psychological, sociological and behavioral components". What differentiates addiction from other behaviors is the pathological component and/or the inability to exert control over it, which results in its continuation despite the negative consequences. It is a chronic disorder that is very costly to the patients who suffer from it and to society. Behavioral addictions are also pervasive and disabling and have a negative impact, such as disruption of family and marital relationships, financial difficulties, mental and physical health problems, and decreased life fulfillment.
Unfortunately, only a portion of patients with addiction problems access treatment services. To date, available treatment options for addictive behaviors remain limited and success rates are poor. Although many receive adequate treatment, they still experience several relapses after interventions, and their quality of life (and that of their caregivers) is greatly reduced due to the chronic nature of these disorders.
Currently there are several diagnostic measurement and assessment tools, ranging from the use of standardized questionnaires and self- and other-report scales to neurophysiological measures (e.g., brain imaging) to nonverbal and/or objective measures (e.g., attentional bias). Although many instruments are reliable (e.g., good internal consistency), the difficulty in assessment is often due to the different characteristics of addiction (e.g., signs, symptoms, severity, type of addiction and so on) and to the limit of the psychometric instruments.
Scientific studies suggest that combined treatment (e.g., behavioral and pharmacological intervention) can increase clinical success and improve clinical attendance, reducing the risk of relapse. However, not all addictive disorders have empirically validated treatments. Thus, there is a need to explore new approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of addiction disorders, such as the use of new technologies (e.g., Brain–Computer Interface, Virtual Reality, neurostimulation, EEG, device and wearable device and so on) combined with conventional treatments and new instruments that overcome the limits of conventional psychometrics analysis, exploring new ways to “interpret” data (e.g., use of neural network and machine learning algorithms, latent analysis, etc.).
In line with this point of view, it is important to develop and validate addiction assessment measures and treatments that could be used in professional practice with clinical populations and as a screening tool or prevention programs for nonclinical populations. In this context, there is a need for more treatments and assessments for addiction behaviors in a complex and multidimensional manner in both clinical and nonclinical populations.
Dr. Natale Salvatore Bonfiglio
Dr. Renati Roberta
Dr. Maria Lidia Mascia
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- addiction
- treatments
- instruments
- measurements
- assessments
- intervention
- clinical practice
- prevention
