Several studies show that depressed people tend to overgeneralize when asked to recall autobiographical memories (AM); in particular, they respond with categoric descriptions. The authors sought to find out whether this tendency also occurs after remission from depression. Two groups of women who were not depressed at the time of the study were compared; only 1 group had a history of major depression. With an AM test, women in remission from major depression retrieved significantly more categoric descriptions when responding to negative cue words than women without a major depression in their biography. These findings support the assumption that AM is a correlate and a consequence of depression.

Background and aimsIn the light of growing traditional and novel forms of gambling, the treatment of disordered gambling is gaining increasing importance and practical relevance. Most studies have examined face-to-face treatments. Although trials implementing self-guided treatments have recently been conducted, these options have not yet been systematically examined. The primary objective of this meta-analysis, therefore, was to analyze the efficacy of all types of psychological face-to-face and self-guided treatments.MethodsA multilevel literature search yielded 27 randomized controlled studies totaling 3,879 participants to provide a comprehensive comparative evaluation of the short- and long-term efficacies of face-to-face and self-guided treatments for disordered gambling.ResultsAs expected, the results revealed significantly higher effect sizes for face-to-face treatments (16 studies with Hedges’s g ranging from 0.67 to 1.15) as compared with self-guided treatments (11 studies with Hedges’s g ranging from 0.12 to 0.30) regarding the reduction of problematic gambling behavior. The intensity of treatment moderated the therapy effect, particularly for self-guided treatments.Discussion and ConclusionsThe results of this meta-analysis favor face-to-face treatments over self-guided treatments for the reduction of disordered gambling. Although the findings broaden the scope of knowledge about psychological treatment modalities for disordered gambling, further research is needed to identify the reasons for these differences with the goal to optimize the treatment for this disabling condition.

No abstract

Specificity and categoric descriptions of autobiographical memories (AM) are reported to be psychological trait markers for vulnerability for depression. Thus, they should permit the prediction of future affective changes. Fifty pregnant women were tested for their recall of AM as well as twice—during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery—with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox, Holden & Sagovsky, 1987 ). The main scope of the study was the evaluation of the potential of AM in predicting affective changes in a nonclinical sample of women following childbirth. Using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, categoric descriptions in response to negative cue words allowed a significant prediction of affective changes.

Disordered gambling is a public health concern associated with detrimental consequences for affected individuals and social costs. Currently, opioid antagonists are considered the first-line treatments to reduce symptoms of uncontrolled gambling. Only recently, glutamatergic agents and combined pharmacological and psychological treatments have been examined appearing promising options for the management of gambling disorder. A multilevel literature search yielded 34 studies including open-label and placebo-controlled trials totaling 1340 participants to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the short- and long-term efficacies of pharmacological and combined treatments. Pharmacological treatments were associated with large and medium pre-post reductions in global severity, frequency, and financial loss (Hedges’s g : 1.35, 1.22, 0.80, respectively). The controlled effect sizes for the outcome variables were significantly smaller (Hedges’s g : 0.41, 0.11, 0.22), but robust for the reduction of global severity at short-term. In general, medication classes yielded comparable effect sizes independent of predictors of treatment outcome. Of the placebo controlled studies, results showed that opioid antagonists and mood stabilizers, particularly the glutamatergic agent topiramate combined with a cognitive intervention and lithium for gamblers with bipolar disorders demonstrated promising results. However, more rigorously designed, large-scale randomized controlled trials with extended placebo lead-in periods are necessary. Moreover, future studies need to monitor concurrent psychosocial treatments, the type of comorbidity, use equivalent measurement tools, include outcome variables according to the Banff, Alberta Consensus, and provide follow-up data in order to broaden the knowledge about the efficacy of pharmacological treatments for this disabling condition.