Marilisa Boffo

Erasmus University Rotterdam | EUR · Department of Psychology Education and Child Studies (DPECS)

Objective: Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) redefined clinical trials to include any study involving behavioral or biomedical interventions. In line with a general framework from experimental medicine, we argue that it is crucial to distinguish between experimental laboratory studies aimed at revealing psychological mechanisms und...

Background and aims: Similar to substance addictions, reward-related cognitive motivational processes, such as selective attention and positive memory biases, have been found in disordered gambling. Despite findings that individuals with substance use problems are biased to approach substance-related cues automatically, no study has yet focused on...

Gamblers' cognitive distortions are thought to be an important mechanism involved in the development and maintenance of problem gambling. The Gambling Cognitions Inventory (GCI) evaluates two categories of distortions: beliefs that one is lucky (i.e., "Luck/Chance") and beliefs that one has special gambling-related skills (i.e., "Skill/Attitude")....

Background: Automatically activated cognitive motivational processes such as the tendency to attend to or approach smoking-related stimuli (ie, attentional and approach bias) have been related to smoking behaviors. Therefore, these cognitive biases are thought to play a role in maintaining smoking behaviors. Cognitive biases can be modified with c...

BACKGROUND Automatically activated cognitive motivational processes such as the tendency to attend to or approach smoking-related stimuli (i.e., attentional and approach bias) have been related to smoking behaviors. Therefore, these cognitive biases are thought to play a role in maintaining smoking behaviors. Cognitive biases can be modified with C...

Introduction: The reclassification of gambling disorder as an addictive disorder in the latest DSM-5 has yielded the question which innovations in addiction treatment can benefit the treatment of problem gambling (PG). One particular innovation that has shown promise in other addictive behaviors, is the use of cognitive bias modification (CBM) tech...

Background: Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretations (CBM-I) is a computerized intervention designed to change negatively biased interpretations of ambiguous information, which underlie and reinforce anxiety. The repetitive and monotonous features of CBM-I can negatively impact on training adherence and learning processes. Objectives: This p...

Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) refers to a family of interventions targeting substance-related cognitive biases, which have been found to play a role in the maintenance of addictive behaviors. In this study, we conducted a Bayesian meta-analysis of individual patient data from studies investigating the effects of CBM as a behavior change interve...

Excessive gambling behavior is a complex psychopathological phenomenon, characterized by the interaction of multiple etiological factors and by a very heterogeneous symptomatological expression. To date, there are no existing evidence-based “best practice” treatment standards for gambling disorder. Healthcare providers and clinicians are further ch...

Background: Although scientific research on the etiology of mental disorders has improved the knowledge of biogenetic and psychosocial aspects related to the onset of mental illness, stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors are still very prevalent and pose a significant social problem. Aim: The aim of this study was to deepen the knowledge of how atti...

Background Disordered gamblers have phenotypical and pathological similarities to those with substance use disorders (SUD), including exaggerated automatic cognitive processing of motivationally salient gambling cues in the environment (i.e., attentional and approach bias). Cognitive bias modification (CBM) is a family of computerised interventions...

Background Attentional bias toward sleep-related information is believed to play a key role in insomnia. If attentional bias is indeed of importance, changing this bias should then in turn have effects on insomnia complaints. In this double-blind placebo controlled randomized trial we investigated the efficacy of attentional bias modification train...

Multilevel regression analyses effects for time, condition, and time × condition. (PDF)

Study protocol. (PDF)

Baseline, Posttest, and Follow-up Scores and Cohen’s d Effect Sizes for the remaining variables for the ABM and Placebo Conditions. (PDF)

Completer sample: Baseline, Posttest, and Follow-up Scores and Cohen’s d Effect Sizes for the Completers of the ABM and Placebo Conditions. (PDF)

Word sets in Dutch and translated into English. (PDF)

CONSORT Checklist. (PDF)

Gambling Disorder (GD) is a complex psychopathological phenomenon, characterized by the interaction of multiple etiological factors and a very heterogeneous symptomatological expression. Currently many questions remain concerning the best way of treating GD. Indeed, the traditional used (cognitive) behavioral interventions have at best a modest eff...

Background Young adults often experiment with heavy use of alcohol, which poses severe health risks and increases the chance of developing addiction problems. In clinical patients, cognitive retraining of automatic appetitive processes, such as selective attention toward alcohol (known as “cognitive bias modification of attention,” or CBM-A), has b...

Addiction research has hypothesised that automatic and reflective cognitive processes play an important role in the onset and maintenance of alcohol (ab)use, wherein automatic reactions to drug-related cues steer the drug user towards consuming before reflective processes can get over and steer towards a different behavioural response. These automa...

Objective: Heavy drinking among young adults poses severe health risks, including development of later addiction problems. Cognitive retraining of automatic appetitive processes related to alcohol (so-called cognitive bias modification [CBM]) may help to prevent escalation of use. Although effective as a treatment in clinical patients, the use of...

Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) has opened up new ways to treat addiction by retraining relatively automatic, maladaptive processes implied in the onset and maintenance of addiction disorders (Wiers et al., 2013). Many CBM interventions can, in principle, be administered online, thus showing potential of being a cheap addition to conventional tre...

Recent changes in the development of romantic relationships suggest the need for a thorough assessment of factors underlying decision-making processes about important steps in the couple's life, to prevent constraints that could increase relational distress. This research examines the dimensionality and convergent, discriminant, and predictive vali...

The present study explores the applicability of the Many-Facet Rasch Measurement model to an Approach Avoidance Task assessing automatic approach tendencies toward alcohol. The MFRM was applied to 54 alcohol dependent outpatients who completed a combined Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) training, targeting alcohol approach and attentional bias. Ma...

Introduction: Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) has opened up new ways to treat addiction by retraining relatively automatic processes implied in the onset and maintenance of alcohol (mis)use (Stacy & Wiers, 2010). Many CBM interventions can, in principle, be administered online, thus showing potential of being a cheap addition to conventional trea...

The present study aimed at the definition of a latent measurement dimension underlying an implicit measure of automatic associations between the concept of mental illness and the psychosocial and biogenetic causal explanatory attributes. To this end, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) assessing the association between the Mental Illness and Physica...

Purpose: Mental illness stigma is a serious societal problem and a critical impediment to treatment seeking for mentally ill people. To improve the understanding of mental illness stigma, this study focuses on the simultaneous analysis of people's aetiological beliefs, attitudes (i.e. perceived dangerousness and social distance), and recommended t...

In the present study an adult attachment dimension, latent to the constructs of security, anxiety, and avoidance, was hypothesized, wherein security was expected to occupy the most relevant position. Furthermore, the reciprocal functioning of attachment constructs and their interactions with self-esteem were explored. Four hundreds and thirty-four...

A Many-Facet Rasch analysis was carried out with the intent of identifying a latent trait dimension characterized by mental disorders causal beliefs variables. The present research consists of two studies. In Study 1, the responses of 443 Italian university students to a 40-item scale were analyzed by means of Rasch models. In Study 2, the response...

The present research aimed to define a latent measurement dimension underlying personal beliefs about the psychotherapeutic relationship. In Study 1, 927 university students completed a newly devised 40-item questionnaire. A latent trait modeling approach was used, by applying the Many-Facet Rasch Measurement model (MFRM). In Study 2, 237 participa...

Aims and objectivesTo devise a set of indices representative of a latent dimension of delivery perception, aimed at the assessment of birth experience after both spontaneous and medically assisted conception. Background Birth experience is of great importance for its prognostic value for the woman and newborn's psychophysical well-being, especially...

The present study aimed at exploring the dimensionality of the Italian version of the UCLA Loneli-ness Scale-version 3 (UCLA LS3), in relation to self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale — RSES), social anxiety (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale — SIAS), and adult attachment (Attachment Style Questionnaire — ASQ), in 350 Italian young adults. An inn...