[The Hungarian version of the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI-HU)]. / A Szerencsejáték Probléma Súlyossága kérdoiv magyar változatának (PGSI-HU) bemutatása.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The growing availability of gambling is accompanied by the increased level of gambling related problems. As result, reliable and valid measurement tools that could quickly identify problem/pathological gambling are necessary. The goal of the study was the psychometric evaluation of the Hungarian version of Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI-HU) as well as the presentation of the first data gained by this instrument. METHODS: The administration of the instrument was conducted in Budapest on an adult sample. The sample (N=777) was recruited in lottery stores and other gambling venues. The sample consisted of 466 males and 311 females. The structural validation of the instrument was executed by confirmatory factor analysis and the concurrent validation was tested with the South Oaks Gambling Screen. RESULTS: The instrument's psychometric properties are appropriate. The majority of the sample (61.6%) is considered as non-problem gambler; 20.2 % of the sample is in the low-problem group; 11.8% is in the moderate level problem gambler category and 6.3% could be considered as pathological gambler. The results of the assessment of the concurrent validity indicate strong significant correlation among the PGSI and SOGS (r=0.802; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The PGSI-HU is a valid and reliable instrument to identify problem and pathological gambling. The measure is recommended to be used both in clinical and research settings due to its appropriate properties.

Psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of the original and the short form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).

AIM: Psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of the original and the short form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were investigated in the present study. METHODS: Participants were undergraduate university students (N=1163) and patients visiting their General Practitioners (GPs) for various somatic complaints (N=466). RESULTS: According to the confirmatory factor analysis, both versions showed adequate fit to the theoretical one-and-one (positive and negative affect) factor model. Internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach-alpha values) were above .8 for the original positive and negative scales, .73 and .79 for the short positive scale, and .65 and .67 for the short negative scale in the student and the patient groups, respectively. The correlations between the original 10-item subscales and their 5-item counterparts were above .9 in both groups. CONCLUSION: The short PANAS scale represents a good and practical alternative for the original version, with lower but still acceptable internal consistency values.

[Problematic and pathologic gambling in Hungary: the Hungarian version and use of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS-HU)]. / Problémás és patológiás szerencsejáték Magyarországon: a South Oaks szerencsejáték kérdoiv magyar verziójának (SOGS-HU) hazai alkalmazása.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Gambling is a form of entertainment with a history of thousand years that has a significant potential for development and has become a widely spread global industry recently. Excessive gambling can take the form of problem, or even pathological gambling. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) is the most common measure used for the assessment of problem and pathological gambling. The aim of our study was the development and psychometric analysis of the Hungarian version of the instrument, and its verification on a representative population sample. METHOD: The administration of the instrument was conducted within the frame of the National Household Survey on Addiction Problems, where 2710 persons were interviewed from Hungarian population between 18 and 64 years. RESULTS: The psychometric properties of SOGS-HU are adequate. 65.3% of the respondents had ever gambled. The most popular games are lottery and other number draw games. According to the data obtained by SOGS 1.9 % of the sample was considered to be problem gambler, and 1.4 % of the sample was considered to be pathological gambler. In both groups the proportion of man was higher, while additional risk factors were lower income, lower expected level of education and legal / illegal substance use. CONCLUSION: Based on these results Hungary can be found in the middle-rank of Europe regarding the prevalence of problem and pathological gambling.

Mentalization and empathy as predictors of violence in schizophrenic patients: Comparison with nonviolent schizophrenic patients, violent controls and nonviolent controls.

There are conflicting results concerning risk of violence in schizophrenia. Empathy and mentalization deficits are associated both with schizophrenia and violence, however, there are only a few studies with equivocal results concerning their relationship. 88 violent and nonviolent paranoid schizophrenic and violent and nonviolent control males in psychiatric, forensic psychiatric and correctional institutions completed the Ekman 60 Faces test, Faux Pas Recognition Test, Eysenck IVE test, Interpersonal Reactivity Index, and the Spielberger Anger Expression Scale. Data were analysed with ANOVA and logistic regression models. Significant group differences with a characteristic pattern were detected in mentalization, facial affect recognition, fear and anger recognition, interpersonal distress, and frequency of direction of anger expression. Predictors of violent behaviour were different in the schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic groups. Lack of major differences in empathy and mentalization between violent and nonviolent schizophrenia patients suggests that such deficits are core features of schizophrenia but do not determine emerging violence in this illness. Our results emphasise the importance of distinguishing between violence related to core positive symptoms of schizophrenia and that emerging from independent comorbid antisocial personality traits in order to identify targets for screening, detection, prevention and management of violence risk in different subpopulations of schizophrenia patients.

The genetics of problem and pathological gambling: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The primary aim of the present review was to summarize the findings of genetic studies conducted on problem and pathological gambling. METHOD: Literature searches were conducted using PubMed, Medline and the HuGE Navigator databases using the keywords 'gambling' and 'genetic*'. RESULTS: The literature searches identified 21 empirical studies that had analyzed data from eight independent samples. Empirical research utilizing twin data accounted for eight of the studies, while gene association data were presented in 13 studies (including one genome wide-association study [GWAS] study). Twin studies emphasized the significant role of genetic and individual environmental factors in problem and pathological gambling. Gene association studies primarily reported the involvement of the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems. DISCUSSION: Despite the relatively low number of genetic studies, the data clearly indicated the genetic vulnerability of problem and pathological gambling. Studies to date have mainly investigated and verified the role of factors reported to be important in other types of addiction, and it is suggested that pathological gambling should be included as a subtype of 'Reward Deficiency Syndrome' (RDS). It is concluded that future research should attempt to identify possible gambling specific susceptibility factors.