A Scale to Measure Love Addiction

Hunter, M.S.; Nitschke, Cynthia; Hogan, Linda

doi:10.2466/pr0.1981.48.2.582

Cited by 53 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Although several scales have been developed to assess constructs related to PAD constructs such as love addiction or emotional dependence, they are now outdated and/or lack a theoretical basis. For example, the Love Addiction Scale (LAS, Hunter et al (1981)) which was later superseded by the Passionate Love Scale (PLS) of Hatfieldand Sprecher (1986) and the more recent scale of Feeney and Noller (1990). However, none of these scales is widely used and they do not assess the core characteristics of TAD as defined by the cognitive model of PAD.…”

Section: A Cognitive Model Of Pathological Affective Dependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) as an Antecedent of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): A Pilot Study of PAD’s Cognitive Model on a Sample of IPV Victims

Pugliese¹,

Mosca²,

Saliani³

et al. 2023

PSYCH

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The present paper has the aim of presenting a preliminary measure of the construct of Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD). The scale has been built on the basis of a cognitive model of PAD and characteristics of a typical affective dependent person (Saver, Unworthy, Traumatic, and Mixed). These profiles have been tracked, using a framework of anti-goals, self/other beliefs, and intrapsychic conflicts (absent, alternate, or akrasic conflict) as obstacles to a healthy and safe separation. PAD scale (PADS) was tested on a clinical sample of 25 people (F = 21, 84%; M = 4.16%; age ranged between 29 and 61 years) recruited in an online anti-violence mutual-support group called Millemé (http://www.milleme.it/) and a psychotherapeutic center (https://www.spc.it/). We selected only patients in maladaptive relationships according to the specific characteristics of PAD, whose cognitive model will be explained in this paper. Other scales were administered to test convergent and discriminant validity through Pearson's r correlations. The preliminary results support both research objectives and the PADS appears to have good validity. Furthermore, these preliminary results showed that PAD is both a stable trait and a latent psychological condition triggered by the abusive partner

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Section: A Cognitive Model Of Pathological Affective Dependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) as an Antecedent of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): A Pilot Study of PAD’s Cognitive Model on a Sample of IPV Victims

Pugliese¹,

Mosca²,

Saliani³

et al. 2023

PSYCH

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“…Because passionate romantic love is regularly associated with a suite of traits linked with all addictions, several psychologists have come to believe that romantic love can potentially become an addiction ( Peele, 1975 ; Tennov, 1979 ; Hunter et al, 1981 ; Halpern, 1982 ; Schaef, 1989 ; Griffin-Shelley, 1991 ; Mellody et al, 1992 ). However, many define addiction as a pathological, problematic disorder ( Reynaud et al, 2010 ); and because romantic love is a positive experience under many circumstances (i.e., not harmful), researchers remain hesitant to officially categorize romantic love as an addiction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intense, Passionate, Romantic Love: A Natural Addiction? How the Fields That Investigate Romance and Substance Abuse Can Inform Each Other

et al. 2016

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Individuals in the early stage of intense romantic love show many symptoms of substance and non-substance or behavioral addictions, including euphoria, craving, tolerance, emotional and physical dependence, withdrawal and relapse. We have proposed that romantic love is a natural (and often positive) addiction that evolved from mammalian antecedents by 4 million years ago as a survival mechanism to encourage hominin pair-bonding and reproduction, seen cross-culturally today in Homo sapiens. Brain scanning studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging support this view: feelings of intense romantic love engage regions of the brain’s “reward system,” specifically dopamine-rich regions, including the ventral tegmental area, also activated during drug and/or behavioral addiction. Thus, because the experience of romantic love shares reward pathways with a range of substance and behavioral addictions, it may influence the drug and/or behavioral addiction response. Indeed, a study of overnight abstinent smokers has shown that feelings of intense romantic love attenuate brain activity associated with cigarette cue-reactivity. Could socially rewarding experiences be therapeutic for drug and/or behavioral addictions? We suggest that “self expanding” experiences like romance and expanding one’s knowledge, experience and self-perception, may also affect drug and/or behavioral addiction behaviors. Further, because feelings of romantic love can progress into feelings of calm attachment, and because attachment engages more plastic forebrain regions, there is a rationale for therapies that may help substance and/or behavioral addiction by promoting activation of these forebrain systems through long-term, calm, positive attachments to others, including group therapies. Addiction is considered a negative (harmful) disorder that appears in a population subset; while romantic love is often a positive (as well as negative) state experienced by almost all humans. Thus, researchers have not categorized romantic love as a chemical or behavioral addiction. But by embracing data on romantic love, it’s classification as an evolved, natural, often positive but also powerfully negative addiction, and its neural similarity to many substance and non-substance addictive states, clinicians may develop more effective therapeutic approaches to alleviate a range of the addictions, including heartbreak–an almost universal human experience that can trigger stalking, clinical depression, suicide, homicide, and other crimes of passion.

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“…However, prevalence estimates of AD in the general population are still unclear; this is partly due to the scarcity of validated psychometric instruments in the literature [25]. The few that are mentioned in the literature are as follows: Love Scale (LS) [26], Love Attitudes Scale (LAS) [27,28], Peabody's Addiction to Love Questionnaire (PALQ) [16], Love Addiction Inventory (LAI) [12], and Affective Dependence Scale (ADS-9) [29]. All of the instruments are self-administered scales and only two of them [12,29] have validation studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Can’t Do without You”: Treatment Perspectives for Affective Dependence: A Scoping Review

Özal,

Mancini,

De Fino

et al. 2023

JCM

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Affective Dependence (AD) is a problematic model of the love relationship that is becoming increasingly prevalent and evident in the context of couple relationships. Similarly, the phenomenon is being observed with growing frequency in daily clinical practice, making it increasingly necessary to identify treatment guidelines that can help clinicians in dealing with AD, while waiting for the literature to reach a consensus on its definition and nosographic profile. The main objective of this work is to explore the existing evidence of effectiveness regarding feasible treatments for Affective Dependence through a scoping review of the international literature carried out using the main scientific databases and following the PRISMA-ScR (PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Seven studies were included in this review, and the results show that several pharmaceuticals, as well as different types of individual and group therapies, are proposed as treatment plans for AD. However, there is a lack of clinical trials that can verify the efficacy of the AD treatments reported so far in the literature. Some reflections that may help to distinguish a “healthy” addiction from a dysfunctional or markedly pathological one are considered alongside potential prevention perspectives.

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A Scale to Measure Love Addiction

Cited by 53 publications

References 1 publication

Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) as an Antecedent of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): A Pilot Study of PAD’s Cognitive Model on a Sample of IPV Victims

Pathological Affective Dependence (PAD) as an Antecedent of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): A Pilot Study of PAD’s Cognitive Model on a Sample of IPV Victims

Intense, Passionate, Romantic Love: A Natural Addiction? How the Fields That Investigate Romance and Substance Abuse Can Inform Each Other

“I Can’t Do without You”: Treatment Perspectives for Affective Dependence: A Scoping Review

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