Resources: The topic of this Master's thesis is oniomania, or in other words, pathologic shopping and how it is affected by an individual's materialistic value orientation. Pathologic shopping refers to an unmanageable urge to buy something, to order, to own a thing. For the needs of this thesis, materialism is understanded as the conviction that gaining material goods is the ultimate life goal, main index of success and key to happiness. Based on the research, materialism is considered to be a significant predictor of oniomania. Aims and methodology: The main aim of this thesis was to describe the relationship between pathologic shopping and materialism. Then prevalence of pathologic shopping was further detected in the focus group which consisted solely of non-medical health care staff as well as the prevalence of age and income. The research also focused on circumstances and consequences of pathological shopping. 853 respondents participated in this correlation research based on data gained from the survey. Main results: With use of correlation analysis it was found that rising rate of materialism leads to higher tendency to shopping compulsively. 55 impulsive shoppers were identified in the research sample which makes it 6,45 % of the total number of respondents. The results showed that neither...

Introdução: Especula-se que a Oniomania ou Compras Compulsivas (CC) compartilhe características clínicas e substratos neurobiológicos com a dependência de substâncias psicoativas, assim como outros comportamentos denominados dependências comportamentais. Os estudos mais recentes para tratamento das dependências têm explorado o potencial clínico de fármacos capazes de bloquear o efeito reforçador dessas substâncias ou comportamentos através da modulação direta ou indireta da atividade dopaminérgica na via córtico-límbico-estriatal. Seguindo esta linha de raciocínio, o topiramato vem sendo investigado para o tratamento do transtorno do jogo, compulsão alimentar e dependência de álcool. Relatos preliminares sugerem potencial desta medicação no tratamento de pacientes com CC. Método: Nosso estudo é um ensaio clínico duplo cego, randomizado e controlado com placebo que visa a testar a eficácia do topiramato administrado oralmente no tratamento das CC ao longo de 12 semanas. Foram analisados 43 pacientes, alocados aleatoriamente no grupo experimental (que recebeu doses flexíveis de topiramato de 25 a 300 mg/dia) ou grupo controle (que recebeu dose correspondente de substância inativa). Ambos os grupos receberam intervenções psicoeducacionais em quatro sessões. Os comportamentos e a psicopatologia das CC, além de fenômenos associados, especificamente impulsividade, sintomas depressivos e adequação social foram avaliados como desfecho. Resultados: As escalas de avaliação não apresentaram significância quando analisadas em conjunto pela MANOVA. Todavia, na análise do desempenho isolado de cada variável incluída no modelo múltiplo, encontrou-se uma redução significativa do comportamento de comprar compulsivo e desejo de aquisição em favor do topiramato, quando comparado ao placebo. Entre as escalas de avaliação de fenômenos associados, houve uma melhora ao longo do tempo em ambos os grupos para as variáveis que medem impulsividade e depressão, com tamanhos de efeito elevados (H2 > 0,14). Os achados devem ser analisados com cautela, uma vez que nossa amostra foi pequena e portanto com baixo poder amostral. Conclusão: Analisados em conjunto, os dados não permitem concluir que o topiramato seja superior ao placebo no tratamento das CC. Porém, esta análise encoraja futuras investigações / Introduction: It is speculated that Compulsive Buying Disorder (CBD), similar to other behavior addictions, shares clinical and neurobiologic characteristics with substance use disorders. Recent research for treatment of addictions has explored the therapeutic potential of drugs capable of blocking the reinforcing properties of substances or behaviors through the direct or indirect modulation of the dopaminergic pathway in the cortico-limbic-striatal circuit. In line with this reasoning, topiramate has been investigated for the treatment of gambling disorder, binge eating and alcohol addiction. Preliminary case reports suggest that this drug can be beneficial for the treatment of CBD. Methods: We followed a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled model to test the efficacy and safety of topiramate during a period of 12 weeks. We analyzed 43 patients randomly assigned to the experimental group (who received flexible doses of topiramate from 25 to 300mg/day) or control group (who received the correspondent dose of inactive substance). Both groups received psychoeducational intervention in 4 sessions. Results: The variables we used to evaluate the symptomatology of CBD showed no significant variations over time when analyzed together through MANOVA. However, among the scales used to evaluate associated phenomena, there was an improvement over time for the variables that measure impulsivity and depression, with high effect sizes (H2 > 0.14). In the analysis of the isolated performance of each variable included in the multiple model we found a superior and statistically significant response of the group topiramate for the CBFS and the subscore acquisition of SI-R. These findings should be analyzed with caution since our sample was small, with low power, and composed by an under-representative sample of individuals. Conclusion: These findings point to a possible utility of topiramate for the treatment of CBD, supporting further studies with larger and more representative samples of patients with CBD

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of compulsive buying, phenomenon which is a current topic for today's society and its incidence is rising. The area of oniomania includes psychological but also social and financial aspects of the disorder. The thesis focuses mainly on the sphere of introduction of oniomania, as a great danger to man and society, especially in the context of financial illiteracy. Enough room is devoted to explication of main key words from the area of addictions (drug addictions and behavioral addictions). Attention has also been dedicated to an important chapter of the issue of gender in context to the pathological shopping and also to topics of getting to know the possibilities of treatment and prevention. The practical part of the thesis deals with research of level of awareness and orientation issues of shopping addiction among university students Using analysis of submitted questionnaires, this part of the thesis tries to find answers to fundamental questions related to the theme of financial literacy.