Adverse childhood experiences in substance use disorder outpatients of a Lebanese addiction center

Childhood adversities (CAs) are well reviewed in mental health and addiction research internationally. However, these variables have not been studied within the framework of addiction in the Middle East region. The present study reports the prevalence of Childhood Adversities in a sample of outpatients seeking treatment for Substance Use Disorder. We used the Adverse Childhood Experiences – International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) to map out the prevalence of childhood adversities. The studied population was composed of a clinical outpatient sample that met criteria for substance use disorder (N = 144). Results indicated that almost all the sample reported having experienced at least 1 CA, whereby three quarters of the clinical sample reported experiencing 6 or more adversities. Childhood adversities are highly prevalent in a Lebanese substance use disorder population which raises the need for better screening strategies and more understanding of Adverse Childhood Experiences in this specific population     

Rule-based learning impairment in rats with lesions to the dorsal striatum.

The present study examined the effects of lesions to the dorsal striatum (DS) in Sprague-Dawley rats, when tested on the acquisition and successive shifts in the position of a goal arm in an eight-arm radial maze. In the procedure we used, rats had to retrieve the location of one baited arm among the eight arms of the maze after it had just been presented as a sample during a forced trial. After attainment of a fixed learning criterion, rats were submitted to five successive shifts in the goal location. Results showed that DS rats were able to learn the position of the goal arm during the acquisition phase as efficiently as sham-operated rats. In contrast, when the position of the goal arm was shifted, although DS rats were able to learn its new position, they made significantly more errors and required more sessions to reach criterion than sham-operated rats. These results suggested that both groups did not solve the task using the same behavioral strategy. The analysis of responses made suggested that sham-operated rats solved the task using the pairing rule between the forced and the free run (matching-to-sample rule), while DS rats solved the task using only visuo-spatial processing. These data therefore suggest that the dorsal striatum plays an important role in rule-learning ability.     

Knowledge About Parenting as a Predictor of Behavioral Discipline Practices between Mothers and Fathers

Psychological Studies - Knowledge of child-rearing and child development is of the utmost importance to optimal parenting and child well-being. Most of what is known about parenting knowledge is...     

Applying the concept of lifestyle in association with aggression and violence in Greek cohabitating couples

The current study investigated the role of lifestyle as a significant factor related to the aggression and violence between cohabitating partners. Based on previous research, lifestyle was defined as a special reflection of socialization into society and working life, where different lifestyles should also be able to produce different patterns of socialization into people's roles as partners. It was found that gender and years of cohabitating were significantly related to Emotional aggression and Sexual violence; lifestyle patterns were associated with specific forms of violence. More specifically, the lifestyles of Pleasure & Elegance and the one of Culture-Intellectualism were found to promote Emotional aggression. Also, the lifestyle of Yuppies/Workaholic and that of Physical activities stimulated the appearance of Sexual violence between partners. Moreover, individuals with Tradition-Religiousness lifestyle were more likely to show lower levels of Physical & Sexual violence while the adherents of the Substance abuse lifestyle pattern appeared to have an inclination towards Physical & Sexual Violence. Finally, the occurrence of one form of violent behaviour was likely to be related to the other forms of violent behaviour.