Masood Zangeneh

Intra- and Interindividual Epigenetic Variation in Human Germ Cells

Epigenetics represents a secondary inheritance system that has been poorly investigated in human biology. The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation variation between and within the germlines of normal males. First, methylated cytosines were mapped using bisulphite modification-based sequencing in the promoter regions of the following disease genes: presenilins (PSEN1 and PSEN2), breast cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA2), myotonic dystrophy (DM1), and Huntington disease (HD). Major epigenetic variation was detected within samples, since the majority of sperm cells of the same individual exhibited unique DNA methylation profiles. In the interindividual analysis, 41 of 61 pairwise comparisons revealed distinct DNA methylation profiles (P=.036 to 6.8 x 10(-14)). Second, a microarray-based epigenetic profiling of the same sperm samples was performed using a 12,198-feature CpG island microarray. The microarray analysis has identified numerous DNA methylation-variable positions in the germ cell genome. The largest degree of variation was detected within the promoter CpG islands and pericentromeric satellites among the single-copy DNA fragments and repetitive elements, respectively. A number of genes, such as EED, CTNNA2, CALM1, CDH13, and STMN2, exhibited age-related DNA methylation changes. Finally, allele-specific methylation patterns in CDH13 were detected. This study provides evidence for significant epigenetic variability in human germ cells, which warrants further research to determine whether such epigenetic patterns can be efficiently transmitted across generations and what impact inherited epigenetic individuality may have on phenotypic outcomes in health and disease.

The Experience of Gambling and its Role in Problem Gambling

This paper reports on the results of a psychological study conducted in Ontario, Canada, that attempted to answer the question of why some people develop gambling problems while others do not. A group of social gamblers (n = 38), sub-clinical problem gamblers (n = 33) and pathological gamblers (n = 34) completed a battery of questionnaires. Compared to non-problem gamblers, pathological gamblers were more likely to report experiencing big wins early in their gambling career, stressful life events, impulsivity, depression, using escape to cope with stress and a poorer understanding of random events. We grouped these variables into three risk factors: cognitive/experiential, emotional and impulsive and tested the extent to which each risk factor could differentiate non-problem and pathological gamblers. Each risk factor correctly identified about three-quarters of the pathological gamblers. More than half (53%) of the pathological gamblers had elevated scores on all three risk factors. Interestingly, 60% of the sub-clinical cases had elevated scores on only one risk factor. The results are interpreted in terms of a bio-psycho-social model of gambling addiction.

Pathways to Pathological Gambling: Component Analysis of Variables Related to Pathological Gambling

This study used principal components analysis to examine the structure of variables associated with pathological gambling. A large battery of questionnaires was administered to a sample of 141 gamblers who ranged from non-problem gamblers to severe pathological gamblers. We found a significant relationship between severity of pathological gambling and various measures of impulsivity, depression, anxiety, erroneous beliefs, and reports of early wins. Component analysis of these variables found four distinct components: emotional vulnerability, impulsivity, erroneous beliefs, and the experiences of wins. Component scores based on these components were regressed onto pathological gambling. Emotional vulnerability had the largest effect (β = 0.54), followed by early wins (β = 0.32), erroneous beliefs (β = 0.31), and impulsivity (β = 0.23). The overall model accounted for 53.4% of the variance of pathological gambling. The findings confirm the idea that there may be several different risk factors that explain the development of pathological gambling.

Adolescent Gambling Behaviour, Attitudes, and Gambling Problems

This paper reports on data relating to adolescent gambling, problem gambling and correlates of problem gambling. Participation was strongly tied to age, with only 39% of grade 5 students reporting gambling and over 80% of grade 11 reporting gambling. A large percentage of the gambling involvement was on noncommercial private bets such as card games, dice games, sports bets and games of skill. Interestingly most students rated gambling as less enjoyable than most other activities including reading. In general the students understood that gambling was mostly a matter of luck, however, the students had a very poor understanding of random chance. Problem gambling was negatively correlated with the effectiveness of coping skills and the student’s understanding of random chance. We also found an interaction between coping skills and knowledge, suggesting that the combination of poor coping skills and a poor understanding of random chance are particularly important in understanding adolescent problem gambling.

Treating Chronic Depression with Disciplined Personal Involvement

In his ground-breaking work titled “Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), McCullough challenges Freudian notion of neutrality that psychotherapists must follow. McCullough offers a fresh, alternative treatment approach: disciplined involvement. McCullough, in his book, describes how this new approach can be used to modify disordered behaviour. This book covers: historical review of the psychotherapist neutrality role; rationale for disciplined personal involvement in the treatment of chronic depression; training psychotherapists to administer disciplined personal involvement; numerous verbatim case examples presented to illustrate therapist disciplined personal involvement; Appendix section operationalizing the CBASP disciplined personal involvement techniques and discussing needed CBASP research. This book is suitable for individuals in the training, research, or practice of counselling and psychotherapy. This book is also valuable for psychologists, social workers, and clinicians who work with the chronically depressed clients. Int J Ment Health Addiction (2007) 5:89 DOI 10.1007/s11469-006-9052-6

The Evaluation of a 1-h Prevention Program for Problem Gambling

Reports on the pre-post controlled experimental evaluation of a problem gambling prevention program aimed at school age youth. The program was very positively received by the students. We found a significant, but small improvement in the students’ understanding of random chance; however, we did not find any evidence for changes in gambling behaviour, coping strategies, or attitudes towards gambling.

Suicide and Gambling

The World Health Organization has tracked the evolution of suicide throughout the decades. From 1983 to 2001, the world suicide rate was 12 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, which is comparable to the Canadian suicide rate that is measured at 15 deaths per 100,000 people. In the short time of two years (1997–1999), there was a 10% suicide increase in Canada. The debate over whether abusive consumption of certain products (e.g. alcohol, drugs of abuse) could cause, lead to or trigger suicidal ideation and/or behavior is getting more attention from the public and the helping professions, as another item gets added to the list of premorbid factors. Problem gambling is a recent issue that has received some negligible attention as a factor playing a role in suicidal ideation and/ or behavior. It is important to note that problem gambling has been treated recently as a concurrent disorder (Clarke, 2005) that co-occurs with a host of mental health and addictive problems. There are a host of factors that are suggested to play a direct or indirect role in suicidal ideation and/or suicidal behavior. It has been suggested that problem gamblers have high rates of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. “Pathological gamblers” experience an increased chance of risk-taking behavior, which coincides with a high rate of suicidal ideation. A 1999 study conducted by Maccallum et al. found that 38% of suicidal ideation is related to gambling, of which 8% of the subjects were actively suicidal. Moreover, of those surveyed, half of those actively suicidal had reported a previous attempt (Kennedy, Cook, Poole, Brunson, & Jones, 2005). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-VI (American Psychiatric Association, 2000:616) ‘...individuals Int J Ment Health Addiction (2006) 4: 191–193 DOI 10.1007/s11469-006-9030-z

Mental Health and Addiction State of Ethnocultural/Racial Communities

Migration has become a common trend and an expected fact of life among the majority of underdeveloped and developing nations. Immigration exposes newcomers to a new experience, an acculturation. Acculturation is not always a successful process and may become stressful. Acculturative stress can manifest itself in different ways. Many researchers have suggested a connection between immigration and increased risk of developing mental health/addiction problems. Studies have shown that ethnocultural/racial groups have experienced difficulties in gaining access to mental health and addiction care services. This background paper is prepared to 1) discuss the mental health & addiction state of Ethnocultural/racial communities, and 2) offer working recommendations.

Childhood Maltreatment, Risk and Resilience

As part of a new special initiative for the International Journal of Mental Health andAddiction, the current two volumes highlight recent conceptual challenges as well asunderstudied and, potentially, under-served populations in terms of mental health, substanceuse, and their co-morbidity. Child maltreatment is a risk correlate, well-recognized for itsimportance to mental health and substance abuse problems across the life span (e.g., Gilbertet al. 2009; Mironova et al. 2011; Rhodes et al. 2011; Tonmyr et al. 2010a, b; Wekerle andWall 2002). However, supportive environment associated with resiliency may explainvariations in outcomes following child maltreatment (Afifi and MacMillan 2011). In thesetwo issues, conceptual papers address how maltreatment may be located within commonsubstance abuse prevention terms, i.e., demand reduction (Mann et al. 2011); and also howsubstance abuse may be located within resilience terms (e.g., Kolar 2011). In addition, theyargue how maltreatment research in substance abuse treatment-seeking individuals, clientsserved by child welfare and general population studies can uniquely contribute to theempirical base. Further, the authors, of these issues, explore this line of inquiry in variouspopulations and settings, from Latin America and the Caribbean (Longman-Mills et al.2011) to urban Canadian youth living on the street (Kirst et al. 2011) and youth involvedwith child welfare (Fallon et al. 2011; Goldstein et al. 2011a, b; Hamilton et al. 2011; Singh

Research Compensation and Lottery: An Online Empirical Pilot Study.

Recruiting participants for a research project can be challenging. Incentives, particularly monetary incentives, have been shown to increase response rates. Offering a monetary incentive for participation in a research study can become very costly for the investigators. For this reason some researchers, including graduate students involved in under-funded projects, have resorted to lottery compensation to attract participants. From an ethical standpoint, all participants in a research study should be treated equally and fairly. Compensation lotteries, however, undermine equal treatment of all participants (notion of justice) because they prevent equal distribution of rewards. In this pilot study, we were interested in exploring and understanding the prevalence and determinants of the use of lottery compensation method by graduate students from Canadian universities as a way of compensating participants in their research studies. A sample of 50 students from five major Canadian universities participated. Three methods of compensation were identified in this study: cash reimbursement, grade mark and lottery draw for a prize. Results show that the availability of funding is the main determinant of the use of lottery compensation: students with sufficient funds were more likely to use cash incentives, while those without adequate funds were more likely to use lottery draws. Ethical implications are further discussed.