We are back with news on developments in the MD field and its coverage in the world’s scientific and popular media.
A group of scientist-practitioners from the Department of Human Neuroscience, Institute of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry at La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, published the first research study on adolescents with excessive daydreaming. The group, led by Drs. Giulia Conte and Francesco Cardona found that excessive daydreaming among adolescents was associated with depressive, obsessive–compulsive, and post-traumatic stress problems. “Daydreaming and psychopathology in adolescence: An exploratory study“ was published in Early Interventions in Psychiatry.
As you may remember from our previous newsletter, the paper by Theodor-Katz et al. titled “Could immersive daydreaming underlie a deficit in attention? The prevalence and characteristics of maladaptive daydreaming in individuals with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder” attracted comprehensive media coverage in May. The press continues to consider the evidence that some cases of ADHD might represent an attention deficit resulting from MD – as exciting scientific news. Well, the media buzz continues.
But before we share the coverage of the research publication: Additude has invited Dr. Nirit Soffer-Dudek to present a live webinar on July 20 titled “Maladaptive Daydreaming vs. ADHD: Important Similarities and Distinctive Differences.
”Additude is an American organization offering comprehensive resources for ADHD professionals, educators, parents of ADHD children, and adults with attention deficit, with over 900,000 members and subscribers.
Register now!
Many Israeli media outlets continued to cover the study published in The Journal of Clinical Psychology. Among them:
And also, by
Детали an Israeli Russian language website.
Inverse is an online magazine covering topics such as technology, science, and culture for a millennial audience with 10 million monthly unique visitors. A recent Inverse headline announced: “New ADHD research reveals clues to “maladaptive daydreaming” condition: “ADHD-like symptoms can result from MD, but they are not one and the same.”
Revyuh Media is a leading source of news, information, and resources for the “Connected Generation,” reporting mostly on digital innovation. They also reported recently on the MD-ADHD study in a story titled “Daydreaming Is Different And More Complex Than ADHD.”
We are told that Dr. Jairo Bouer is a very popular physician and public authority in Brazil. He published a report on the MD-ADHD study titled: “Sonhar Acordado é parte do TDAH? Nem sempre, segundo estudo (Is daydreaming part of ADHD? Not always, according to study)”. Dr. Bouer also uploaded a short video to explain the study results.
PsychCentral also published a story on the MD-ADHD study titled: Could Daydreaming Be a Subtle Symptom of ADHD? The journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking analyzed online mental health-related information quality. The researchers found that PsychCentral was cited as one of the top two mental health-focused Web sites returning search results for their analysis.
Kudos to the authors for causing such a commotion!
Psychology Today featured another story on MD titled: “Do You Suffer From Maladaptive Daydreaming? Although daydreaming is often healthy, it can also create serious problems.” You can access the article here.
Reality shifting: psychological features of an emergent online daydreaming culture was the title of a paper we published late last year, reporting a form of immersive daydreaming that was never studied before. The article received comprehensive media coverage, and, recently, it was added to two Wiki websites. One in Fanlore, a wiki about fanworks and fan communities. The other in RationalWiki, a liberal community dedicated to exploring and providing information about a range of topics centered around science, skepticism, and critical thinking.
We are delighted to learn that more students choose to conduct research in our emerging field. For example, Anita Sipos submitted her graduation thesis under Dr. Erzsébet Szél at Szeged University in Hungary on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences, mentalization, and maladaptive daydreaming.
At Maastricht University, the Netherlands, Pia Breuer submitted her thesis on maladaptive daydreaming and counterfactual thinking: Exploring the psychometrics of the German and Dutch Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16). Pia was supervised by Prof. Harald Merckelbach.
Shanelle Mandelburger from Sweden’s Karlstad University completed her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Malin Anniko. Her research was titled: “Immersive Daydreaming: Does inattention mediate the connection between attachment style and Maladaptive Daydreaming?”.
Congratulations, Anita, Shanelle, and Pia.
And finally, the Italian daily La Republica (circulation 300,000) featured an interview with Valeria Franco, President of Maladaptive Daydreaming Italia, in a story titled: The parallel life in our head: What is maladaptive daydreaming?. Italians got a double exposure to MD this month because the women’s website WDonna also published an article about MD titled: “Maladaptive daydreaming or compulsive fantasy disorder .” If you speak Italian and wish to read it, click here.
Until our following newsletter, please stay cool and hydrated.
