A proof of concept study to assess the imbalance of self-reported wanting and liking as a predictor of problematic addictive behaviors

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File, D, Bőthe, B, File, B, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524 and Demetrovics, Z, 2023. A proof of concept study to assess the imbalance of self-reported wanting and liking as a predictor of problematic addictive behaviors. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. ISSN 1557-1874

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01226-4

Abstract

Tolerance, one of the key features of addiction, is a highly debated criterion for behaviors, considered controversial and difficult to assess. The Incentive-Sensitization Theory of Addiction (IST) provides a robust empirical background on the dynamics of the motivational and hedonic systems underlying addiction, reflecting tolerance. The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to introduce wanting and liking as an IST-based measure of tolerance. Survey data were analyzed on two potentially problematic substance use behaviors (alcohol and nicotine use) and seven potentially problematic behaviors (eating, gaming, pornography use, social media use, internet use, television series watching, and working) of 774 participants (517 women, Mage = 35.8 years, SD = 11.84), using linear regression models. The models describing the relationship between usage frequency and the difference between self-reported wanting and liking were significant for all of the investigated substance use and potential behavioral addictions. As a general pattern, the balance of wanting and liking was disrupted with increasing usage/behavior frequency, with a steady increment in wanting in all investigated cases. The findings indicate that the proposed approach holds promise as an empirically robust tool for addiction research, offering the potential to compare substance and behavioral addictions on a unified dimension.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction
Creators:	File, D., Bőthe, B., File, B., Griffiths, M.D. and Demetrovics, Z.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	26 December 2023
ISSN:	1557-1874
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1007/s11469-023-01226-4 DOI 1849232 Other
Rights:	© the author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	03 Jan 2024 10:03
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2024 10:03
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/50603