Desire Thinking About Gambling: Assessment and Associations With Gambling Disorder and Responsible Gambling Among Chinese Gamblers

Desire thinking, within the metacognitive model of addictive behaviors, is conceptualized as a transdiagnostic process linked to the escalation and maintenance of craving for various addictive disorders; however, its application to the understanding of gambling and the Chinese community remains at an early stage. The present study aimed to introduce desire thinking into gambling research in the Chinese context by: (1) testing the applicability of its two-factor conceptualization and assessment tool, the Desire Thinking Questionnaire (DTQ), and (2) exploring its association with dysregulated and regulated engagements in gambling (i.e., Gambling Disorder [GD] and responsible gambling [RG], respectively). We conducted a telephone survey in Macao, China, and obtained a probability sample of 837 Chinese adult past-year gamblers (48.5% men; age: M = 41.11, SD = 14.31) with a two-stage cluster random sampling method. Our data indicated the psychometric adequacy of the two-factor DTQ (i.e., verbal perseveration and imaginal prefiguration) for measuring Chinese gamblers' desire thinking about gambling. After controlling for craving and demographics, desire thinking contributed to an additional 12.1% and 18.9% variance explained in GD tendency and RG behaviors, respectively. This study provides the first empirical evidence of the utility of desire thinking and the DTQ in facilitating gambling research on Chinese gamblers. Our findings also suggest the value of incorporating desire thinking in detecting and treating GD and in promoting RG.

Metacognitions about suicidal thoughts

BACKGROUND

Rumination about suicide has recently been identified as a risk factor for suicidal behavior. According to the metacognitive model of emotional disorders, the activation and maintenance of rumination is dependent on specific metacognitive beliefs. On this background, the current study is concerned with the development of a questionnaire to assess suicide-specific positive and negative metacognitive beliefs.

METHODS

Factor structure, reliability and validity of the Scales for Suicide-related Metacognitions (SSM) were investigated in two samples comprised of participants suffering from lifetime suicide ideation. Participants of sample 1 (N = 214; 81.8% female; M_age = 24.9, SD_age = 4.0) took part in a single assessment using an online survey. Participants of sample 2 (N = 56; 71.4% female; M_age = 33.2, SD_age = 12.2) took part in two online assessments within a two week time-period. To establish convergent validity questionnaire-based assessments of suicidal ideation, general and suicide specific rumination and depression were used. Furthermore, it was analyzed whether suicide-related metacognitions predict suicide-specific rumination cross-sectionally and prospectively.

RESULTS

Factor analyses revealed a two-factor structure of the SSM. Results indicated good psychometric properties, and provided evidence for construct validity and stability of the subscales. Positive metacognitions predicted concurrent and prospective suicide-specific rumination beyond the effect of suicide ideation and depression and rumination predicted concurrent and prospective negative metacognitions.

CONCLUSION

Taken together the results provide initial evidence that the SSM is a valid and reliable measure of suicide-related metacognitions. Furthermore, findings are in line with a metacognitive conceptualization of suicidal crises and provide first indications of factors that might be relevant for the activation and maintenance of suicide-specific rumination.

Metacognition, cognition and social anxiety: A test of temporal and reciprocal relationships

Cognitive models of social anxiety give prominence to dysfunctional schemas about the social self as the key underlying factors in maladaptive self-processing strategies and social anxiety symptoms. In contrast, the metacognitive model argues that beliefs about cognition represent a central belief domain underlying psychopathology and cognitive schemas as products of a thinking style regulated by metacognition. The present study therefore evaluated the temporal and reciprocal relations between metacognitive beliefs, social self-beliefs, and social anxiety symptoms to shed light on possible causal relationships among them. Eight hundred and sixty-eight individuals gathered at convenience participated in a four-wave online survey with each measurement wave 6 weeks apart. Using autoregressive cross-lagged panel models, we found significant temporal and reciprocal relations between metacognition, social self-beliefs (schemas), and social anxiety. Whilst social self-beliefs prospectively predicted social anxiety this relationship was reciprocal. Metacognitive beliefs prospectively predicted both social interaction anxiety and social self-beliefs, but this was not reciprocal. The results are consistent with metacognitive beliefs causing social anxiety and social self-beliefs and imply that negative social self-beliefs might be a product of metacognition. The clinical implications are that metacognitive beliefs should be the central target in treatments of social anxiety.

Negative metacognitive beliefs moderate the influence of perceived stress and anxiety in long-term anxiety

Metacognitive theory of emotional disorders (Matthews and Wells, 1994; Wells, 2009) suggests that metacognitive beliefs can play a causal role in the development and maintenance of anxiety symptoms. In this prospective study, we examine the relationships between metacognitive beliefs, perceived stress and anxiety in a non-clinical sample. Participants were 135 undergraduate students who completed a battery of questionnaire at two time points (3- months apart). Results revealed metacognitive beliefs do not predict long-term anxiety independently. However, moderation analyses demonstrated negative beliefs about uncontrollability and danger prospectively moderated the relationship between perceived stress and Time 2 anxiety. Negative metacognitive beliefs also interacted with baseline anxiety to predict the change in anxiety symptoms. The results confirm metacognitions play a causal role in anxiety and have implications for cognitive models and the treatment of anxiety.

Desire thinking as a predictor of craving and binge drinking: A longitudinal study

Desire thinking is a conscious and voluntary cognitive process orienting to prefigure images, information and memories about positive target-related experience. Desire thinking has been found to be associated with both craving and alcohol use in clinical and non-clinical populations, however its role in predicting craving and problematic drinking patterns has never been investigated using a longitudinal design. The central aim of the present study was to explore the role of desire thinking at Time 2 (3months post-baseline) in predicting craving and binge drinking and Time 3 (6months post-baseline), controlling for levels of both these constructs and Time 1 (baseline). One hundred and thirty three non-hazardous drinkers were assessed on craving and binge drinking at Times 1 and 3, and on desire thinking at Time 2. Findings showed that desire thinking at Time 2 predicted craving and binge drinking at Time 3, controlling for craving and binge drinking at Time 1. Furthermore, the imaginal prefiguration component of desire thinking at Time 2 was found to mediate the relationship between craving at Times 1 and 3; conversely the verbal perseveration component of desire thinking at Time 2 was found to mediate the relationship between binge drinking at Times 1 and 3. The implications of these findings are discussed.