International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction
Volume:6 Issue: 3, Sep 2017

Context: A high prevalence of suicide and attempted suicide in relation to gambling disorder is in increasing evidence in current scientific data. The objective of this review was to explore if there was a primary correlation between psychiatric co-morbidities and gambling and/or a secondary correlation with suicide acts.
Evidence Acquisition: We performed a critical analysis of the most recent papers in the scientific literature in this regard and report on the most significant findings.
A direct relationship between gambling and suicidality was highlighted in a number of European, American, and Asian countries. However, it was not clear whether or not gambling increased the risk of suicidal behavior. Two general trends were noted. The first was that gamblers with extreme gambling behavior incurred economic losses and debts to such an extent that suicidal acts appeared to be the only solution. The second was that suicidal acts by gamblers were precipitated by interpersonal and/or working challenges, in conjunction with personality traits of impulsivity and psychiatric co-morbidities.
A combination of impulsivity, certain psychiatric disorders, and social factors may explain the frequent occurrence of suicidal behavior in gamblers.

Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and the related circuitry.
The purpose of the study was the measurement of effective components in addiction relapse, in Rasht city of Guilan province, Iran.
Patients and This study was done in 2014 that has been performed by using the factor analysis method. In the qualitative stage the process owners were 45 experts, and in the factor analysis stage they were 1850 people who were under treatment at addiction treatment centers. The data collection tool was a Researcher-Made Questionnaire whose content validity was determined through expert panel, and its construct validity was determined through exploratory factor analysis by principal component analysis method with varimax rotation using SPSS16 software.
In exploratory component analysis, 4 main components were identified; Individual factors with 6 variables, 25.72% variance, and 17.81 eigenvalue as the most important factor, and Economic factors with 5 variables and 7.64% variance as the less important factor, clarified the Addiction Relapse changes; however, in the fitted model which is the most completely saturated model, 4 factors of Individual factors with ß = 0.48, family factors with ß = 0.23, occupational factors with ß = 0.2, economic factors with ß = 0.12 had the highest predictive power in the order of importance.
According to the findings, individual, familial, social, cultural, and economic factors were the most important in relation to the addiction relapse.

The use of mobile phones in the world today is growing rapidly and consequently its related problems in various areas of cultural, social and economical are growing.
The current research was concerned with aspects of mobile phone use and pedestrian distraction when talking on a mobile device.
Patients and The present survey took place on a university campus. Five objects were placed along the route. Volunteers participating in the study were divided into two groups. The experimental group received phone calls their entire path, while the control group did not receive any phone calls. At the end of the survey, the participants were asked which of these objects were seen along the path.
The results revealed that 20% of the answers were correct for the participants in the call condition group, while 74% of the answers were correct for the participants in the no call condition group. Results indicate that there are significant differences between the two groups from the response aspect.
The findings of the present study suggest that cell phone usage while walking can decrease the perceptual visual field, make pedestrians less aware of the surroundings and put them at the risk of having an accident, getting injured or death. It is necessary to give pedestrians adequate training in the field of mobile device usage and its possible risks as well as teach them its appropriate use. They should also be taught to put their cell phones away while walking in the street especially when they are crossing a street or at the intersections.

Epidemiological studies have reported commonly distributed transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) in different populations with parental risk factors, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
This study was performed to determine and compare the prevalence of TTV infection among HIV-positive patients and healthy blood donors.
Patients and A total of 186 HIV patients and 165 healthy blood donors with no markers of HIV infection were included in this study during 2004 - 2012. Semi-nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay was performed for the detection of TTV DNA. HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), Hepatitis C Virus Antibody (HCVAb), and CD4 were investigated in the sera of HIV-positive subjects. Aspartate transaminase (AST) and Alanine transaminase (ALT) levels were also measured.
The mean age of HIV-positive and healthy subjects was 39.3 and 40.5 years, respectively. In total, 182 (97.9%) subjects were male and 4 (2.1%) were female. TTV DNA was detected in 35 out of 186 HIV patients (18.8%; 95% CI, 13.2 - 24.4%). The prevalence of TTV in the HIV group was significantly higher (P = 0.027) than blood donors (11%; 95% CI, 6.2 - 15.8%). Age, marital status, unsafe sexual activity, and use of injection drugs were not significantly associated with the prevalence of TTV infection in HIV patients.
Considering the higher frequency of TTV infection in HIV patients in comparison to healthy blood donors, HIV infection may be an important risk factor for TTV infection. In addition, the lower frequency of TTV infection in healthy individuals in comparison to HIV patients reveals the transmission of TTV infection via routes other than blood and drug injection; therefore, the effect of fecal-oral route needs to be examined in future studies.

Smoking leads to changes in immune reaction and total antioxidant capacity. Smoking, through dysfunction of antioxidant system, plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases.
The current study aimed at comparing salivary antioxidant capacity in smokers and non-smokers with severe chronic periodontitis.
Patients and In this case-control study, among patients referred to Zahedan School of Dentistry without any systemic diseases, 64 patients with severe chronic periodontitis, including 27 smokers as the case group and 37 non-smokers as the control group, were selected. Stimulated salivary samples were collected and total antioxidant levels were evaluated through the Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) technique. All analyses were performed by SPSS (Ver.18) using Student’s t-test, Mann Whitney test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) with significance level of 0.05 in all of the tests.
Total antioxidant capacity in smokers (378.43 ± 207.34 µM) with severe chronic periodontitis was significantly lower than non-smokers (698.30 ± 231.86 µM) (P = 0.0001). Smoking at a rate of more than 10 cigarettes per day caused a significant decrease in total antioxidant capacity as compared to less than 10 cigarettes a day (P = 0.009), although there was no significant relationship between total antioxidant capacity and duration of smoking (P = 0.23).
smoking has an influence on antioxidant status in patients with severe chronic periodontitis. Smoking could be effective in development and progression of inflammation process through changes in oxidative stress. These findings confirm the benefits of smoking-cessation in improvement of antioxidant levels in periodontitis.

Opioid dependence is a complicated disorder in which multiple factors interact to influence initiation of use, repeated use, addiction, and relapse. Negative emotional states, such as anger, anxiety, depression, frustration, and boredom are also associated with the highest rate of relapse
The researchers of the current study propose that depression is a significant risk factor for relapse after inpatient detoxification, for which they conducted this 1-year follow up study to compare relapsed with non-relapsed patient group with respect to their depressive symptoms.
Patients and A total of 581 patients were admitted to the tertiary care institute of the current study from 1st of January 2014 to 31st of December 2015, out of which 115 subjects met the defined exclusion criteria or did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining 466 patients were considered for the study. All the patients were followed up for relapse and interviewed with the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) every 2 weeks for the next 1 year. Relapsed and non-relapsed groups were compared.
No significant difference was found between relapsed and non-relapsed patients regarding their socio-demographic profile. In a comparison between relapsed and non-relapsed group, though both groups showed high mean depression score throughout the 1-year follow up, the relapsed group had a much higher score, almost double that of the other group. Very severe depression was seen in more than 16% of relapsed patients, which was absent in non-relapsed patients.
The current study found persistent high mean depression scores after inpatient detoxification in both groups. Regular screening for depression is needed during post-detoxification follow up period as timely intervention may prevent relapse.

The market for and the level of energy drinks (EDs) consumption are increasing every year, and while only a few have a comprehensive knowledge about the potential harmful physiological and psychological effects of EDs, the number of publications that have documented the potential adverse risks associated with the use of these beverages remains small.
The present study aim to evaluate the prevalence of EDs consumers among the adult population and to verify the factors associated with its consumption and onset of adverse events.
Patients and A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) semi-structured questionnaire, administered to adult population of central Sicily, Italy.
In this study, 217 adults were interviewed. Of the respondents, 77.9% were current EDs consumers. A significant difference was observed in the level of education (P = 0.022), with particular preponderance of ED-drinking individuals among those with middle school education compared to those with higher education levels, and with a habit of consuming alcohol more frequently than nonusers (P = 0.031). For 73% of the respondents, ED consumption was associated with consumption of alcohol, and 21% of the interviewed participants stated they had suffered from disorders caused by drinking EDs. With regards to differences between sexes, males had drunk EDs for a longer period than females (OR 1.74 (1.15 - 2.97); P = 0.041). The predominant motivation was sports for males (OR 6.5 (1.88 - 22.48); P = 0.003), and studying for females (OR 4.25 (1.25 - 14.4); P = 0.020). The females also claimed to drink EDs particularly on weekends and to have suffered more symptoms than males (OR 2.429 (1.14 - 5.18), P = 0.021).
The results of this study confirm a large use of EDs among the adult population and the side effects reported may represent a health risk. The use of EDs may influence ingestion of large amount of alcohol. This result indicates the need for a thorough evaluation of this social phenomenon.

Illegal use of psychotropic drugs has become a great problem around the world. Change in the traditional pattern of drug abuse to industrial drugs is one of the challenges faced today in Iran.
The present study was performed to determine the reliability and validity of the Persian version of the amphetamine cessation symptom assessment (ACSA) questionnaire in patients of residential medical center in Alborz province of Iran.
Patients and In this cross-sectional study, 106 patients accepted to participate from patients enrolled in the residential medical center of Alborz province. After the questionnaire was translated to Persian, face, content, and construct validity was assessed. Exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis were used to assess the construct validity. Content validity index (CVI) was used to assess the content validity of the questionnaire. In order to determine the reliability of the questionnaire, internal consistency method with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used. The face validity step was based on the opinion of experts and patients that had just withdrew from the study and limited changes were inserted in the questionnaire.
Content validity for the entire of questionnaire was 86.5% and for questions individually was 80% and higher. In factor analysis 3 acceptable factors with higher than 1 were identified that justified 65.81% of the entire variance. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the entire questionnaire was 84%, and also for the first, second, and third factor this was 91%, 77%, and 96%, respectively.
Results of this study showed that the questionnaire had appropriate reliability and validity in the evaluation of amphetamine withdrawal symptoms and could be used in similar activities and studies in Iran.

There is growing interest in studying the impact of religion/spirituality (R/S) on mental/physical health in Iran; however, little attention has been paid to the role of R/S in addiction.
This study aim to evaluate the reliability and construct and convergent validity of the Farsi version of the religious commitment inventory-10 (RCI-10) in a sample of substance abusers.
Patients and The original English version of RCI-10 was translated into Farsi, the official language of Iran, using standard forward-backward translation. The reliability of the Farsi version was evaluated by assessing internal consistency; convergent validity was assessed via correlations with other measures of religiosity. Principal component analysis was utilized to assess the construct validity of the measure.
The Farsi version of RCI-10 had high internal consistency and satisfactory convergent validity. Factor analysis revealed a three-factor solution for the scale.
The results of this study, while preliminary, suggest that the Farsi version of the RCI-10 is a reliable and valid measure of religiosity and can be used in health research with Farsi-speaking populations.

Hallucinations in children have not typically been viewed as synonymous with psychosis. They can even be part of normal development or can be associated with other psychiatric disorders. These hallucinations are sometimes referred to as non-psychotic hallucinations. An association between childhood trauma and psychosis has been demonstrated several times.
A six-year-old child was analyzed as a follow-up study over a period of three years by a child and adolescent psychiatrist. During the study, he was referred to the psychiatric hospital three times for aggression and hallucinations. Despite his several admissions to the psychiatric hospital and receipt of vigorous treatment, he maintained clear and sustained hallucinations that never diminished. At the last outpatient follow-up, his mother revealed physical abuse by his father. Laboratory tests, magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography results were unremarkable.
Based on our experience and knowledge, this child, who has had three years of sustained and non-psychotic hallucinations, is a rare case. In addition, this case proves that the diagnostic complexity of hallucinations in children of preschool age requires a high level of precision and thoroughness. That is, these hallucinations may be associated with adversities experienced by the child. This article discusses how trauma may manifest in characteristic symptoms of psychosis, particularly hallucinations.