The DOI matches its Crossref record; 161 of the 161 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Learning to lose control: A process-based account of behavioral addiction
Open accessAbstract
Learning psycho(bio)logy has developed a solid corpus of evidence and theory regarding behavior control modes. The present article briefly reviews that literature and its influence on recent models in which the transition from goal-directed to compulsive behavior is identified as the main process underlying substance use disorders. This literature is also relevant to non-substance addictive disorders, and serves as basis to propose a restricted definition of behavioral addiction relying on the presence of behavior-specific compulsivity. Complementarily, we consider whether some activities can become disordered while remaining mostly goal-driven. Based on reinforcement learning models, relative outcome utility computation is proposed as an alternative mechanism through which dysfunctional behaviors (even not qualifying as addictive) can override adaptive ones, causing functional impairment. Beyond issues of conceptual delimitation, recommendations are made regarding the importance of identifying individual etiological pathways to dysregulated behavior, the necessity of accurately profiling at-risk individuals, and the potential hazards of symptom-based diagnosis. In our view, the validity of these recommendations does not depend on the position one takes in the nosological debate.
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“In the context of addiction, the goal is based upon the hedonic representation of the reward in the brain (Perales et al., 2020).This involves the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Perales et al., 2020) and is at the basis of wanting, with no inverted commas.”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Some parts of the control of behavior become more automatic with repeated experience.Such a shift, based upon increasing incentive salience, represents a criterion for the definition of addiction (Perales et al., 2020).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Only the latter might constitute 'addicted', the former simply being described as having a passion (Perales et al., 2020).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The word 'compulsion' captures a feature of the mental life of sexually-addicted people, i.e. a feeling compelled to act, often against their better judgement (Perales et al., 2020).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The literature describes two types of impulsivity: domain-general, which is evident regardless of the task, and domain-specific, where the level of impulsivity depends upon the context (Perales et al., 2020;Mahoney and Lawyer, 2018).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
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The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The evidence for a shift of weight of control from goal-based to stimulus-based, as a criterion of addiction (Perales et al., 2020) was presented as a weakening of liking relative to wanting.”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
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“Although there are two modes of control, they are strongly interactive.Any given piece of behavior could be understood as being somewhere on a continuum in the weight of control between the two (Perales et al., 2020).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
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“Indeed, this would be disqualified by its not meeting the criterion of a shift towards stimulus-based control (Perales et al., 2020).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Perales et al., 2020
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Citations
Cites
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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
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Neurobiologic advances from the brain disease model of addiction
Volkow, N. D., Koob, G. F., & McLellan, A. T. (2016) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra1511480 · Cited by 2,008
Development of a Facebook Addiction Scale
Andreassen, C. S., Torsheim, T., Brunborg, G. S., & Pallesen, S. (2012) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.2466/02.09.18.pr0.110.2.501-517 · Cited by 1,884
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Goal-directed instrumental action: contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates
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Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Fishman, 2018, Why is this game so addictive? A video game guide for parents, Psychol. Today
- King, 2020, Video game design and maladaptive player-game relationships in Internet gaming disorder: a systematic review, Clin. Psychol. Rev.
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Items 101–101 of 101
Helal, A., Marey, M. M., Reda, E., Hassan, A., Elhady, M. M., Elgohry, Y. A., Basha, E. A., & Sallie, S. N. (2026) · Archives of Sexual Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10508-026-03532-z
Metadata
- Authors
- Perales, J. C., King, D. L., Navas, J. F., Schimmenti, A., Sescousse, G., Starcevic, V., van Holst, R. J., & Billieux, J.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Granada (ES)
- Flinders University (AU)
- Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (ES)
- Università degli Studi di Enna Kore (IT)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- Corresponding author
- Navas, Juan F.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-01
- Volume
- 108
- Pages
- 771-780
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2995007569
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 160
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 1.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repository of the University of Granada (University of Granada) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- IRIS (submittedVersion)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Spanish Government (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación; Convocatoria 2017 de Proyectos I+D de Excelencia, Spain
- Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER, European Union
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- behavioral addiction, goal-directed behavior, compulsive behavior, behavioral control, substance use disorders, reinforcement learning models, functional disability, symptom-based diagnosis
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Models, Psychological, Reinforcement, Psychology, Behavior, Addictive, Executive Function
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