This study focused on the ability to experience a high ratio of positive to negative emotions in 807 Israeli adolescents aged 12 to 15 years (50% girls). While considering possible gender differences, we tested a model positing that adolescents’ self-control skills would link to their positivity ratio and indirectly through perceived social support from parents and classmates. Parental support was significantly higher than classmate support, and girls scored significantly higher than boys on self-control skills and on both support sources. Self-control skills linked directly with positivity ratio and indirectly through parents’ and classmates’ support, with no gender differences found for the overall model. The study highlights the importance of prevention and treatment programs designed to impart adolescents with prosocial self-control skills, to improve their perceived availability of social support and consequently to increase their positivity ratio during this intense developmental period.

This study examines the relationships between gambling behaviour and temperament, sense of coherence (SOC) and exposure to advertising among adolescents, and the interactions between these three independent variables in relation to problem gambling (PG). One thousand and sixty-nine Israeli adolescents (males = 539, females = 530), aged 16–19, were sampled from 19 high schools. The following instruments were used: a gambling behaviour scale; a PG scale; an advertising exposure scale; Buss and Plomin's emotionality, activity and sociability (EAS) questionnaire measuring temperament; and a short version of Antonovsky's SOC scale. The findings indicated a relationship between recall of exposure to advertising and gambling behaviour and PG among adolescents. No correlations were found between SOC and gambling behaviour and PG, and no correlation was found between temperament and gambling behaviour. However, the effect of temperament on PG was significant for girls only. In addition, no interaction was found between the three independent variables relating to PG. The findings of this study underline the social role of advertisements in the process of developing gambling behaviour among adolescents and its effect on problem gambling.

Background: The prevalence of gambling disorder (GD) in women has increased, but, to date, few studies have explored the features of clinical GD subtypes in female samples. Aims: The aim of this study is to identify empirical clusters based on clinical/sociodemographic variables in a sample of treatment-seeking women with GD. Methods: Agglomerative hierarchical clustering was applied to a sample of n = 280 patients, using sociodemographic variables, psychopathology, and personality traits as indicators for the grouping procedure. Results: Three mutually exclusive groups were obtained: (a) Cluster 1 (highly dysfunctional; n = 82, 29.3%) endorsed the highest levels in gambling severity, comorbid psychopathology, novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and self-transcendence, and the lowest scores in self-directedness and cooperativeness; (b) Cluster 2 (dysfunctional; n = 142, 50.7%) achieved medium mean scores in gambling severity and psychopathological symptoms; and (c) Cluster 3 (functional; n = 56, 20.0%) obtained the lowest mean scores in gambling severity and in psychopathology, and a personality profile characterized by low levels in novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and self-transcendence, and the highest levels in self-directedness and cooperativeness. Discussion and conclusions: This study sheds light on the clinical heterogeneity of women suffering from GD. Identifying the differing features of women with GD is vital to developing prevention programs and personalized treatment protocols for this overlooked population.

Social changes in the Western world have led to changes in the traditional family structure and to the emergence of new family structures. Despite the involvement of social workers with a broad range of family types, their perceptions of the concept of family have never been studied. This study examines how social workers define the concept of family, and how personal values, socio-demographic variables and personal acquaintance with non-traditional types of families affect these definitions. Five hundred and two Israeli social workers responded to an online questionnaire; 89.6–98.8 per cent of respondents attributed the ‘family’ label to any relationship or living arrangement involving children. Hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that gender, religiosity, age, level of education, as well as universalism and benevolence values were direct predictors of a broad definition of the concept of family. In addition, the variable of personal acquaintance with non-traditional families was found to moderate some of the socio-demographic and the values examined. The discussion deals with how the respondents’ perception of family is consistent with the views of a society that promotes a high birth rate, and with the associations found between the study variables, and the importance of exposing social workers to non-traditional types of families.

Social changes in recent years have led to a broadening of the definition of family. The perception of the concept of family among the American public was assessed in 2003 and 2006 by means of the Family Perception Scale, which found that the respondents fell into three clusters, dubbed Exclusionists, Moderates, and Inclusionists. Based on a sample of adult Jewish population in Israel (N = 1,518), this study examined whether these categories could apply to the Israeli public too, and if so, whether the distribution of these clusters were the same as in the United States. The study’s findings confirm that while this classification is well suited to the perception of family in Israel, the distribution of the three clusters differs from that in the United States. These findings may indicate that while global influences promote similar views of family structures, local influences may result in different cluster distribution patterns in each society.

Recovery capital (RC) is an emerging conceptual framework in the addiction field that pinpoints the internal and external (i.e., human, community, cultural, social, financial) resources individuals can draw on throughout the recovery process. The concept of RC was developed and applied primarily to individuals who have recovered from substance addiction. The aim of this study was to extend the RC conceptual framework to gambling disorder (GD)-which is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as a behavioral addiction-and to identify and conceptualize RC resources implemented by individuals who have recovered from GD. Ninety-one individuals who reported a lifetime history of DSM-5 GD but who had not exceeded the DSM-5 GD threshold criteria in the previous year, were interviewed about the factors that helped them throughout their recovery. Directed content analyses identified 12 main RC resources that were classified under 4 RC domains: human capital (subjective well-being, self-efficacy, self-control skills, proactive coping skills, socioemotional skills, reconstruction skills), community capital (prorecovery environment, professional therapeutic milieu), social capital (recovering gamblers' peer group, friends without a GD, family), and financial capital (prorecovery financial state). These findings are the first step toward formulating a comprehensive conceptual model of RC applicable to GD. This study extends the RC and the gambling literature by presenting a holistic view of recovery from GD in many facets of life, and underscores the importance of observing strengths and resources in treating people with GD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).