ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
Metaphor as a cognitive and relational tool for self-narrating experience of addiction: a qualitative-quantitative analysis.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Metaphors have been acknowledged as crucial for understanding and articulating complex experiences, helping individuals make sense of emotional and social challenges, especially during tough times. In the context of addiction, previous studies have highlighted the potential of metaphorical language to facilitate the expression and comprehension of emotions related to addictive behaviors. However, little research has explored when and what types of metaphors people use in their personal stories about addiction. Aim of current study was to address this gap by analyzing metaphorical language in self-narratives of individuals with addiction. Methods: Sixty-three participants (37 men and 26 women; age range: 18-65 years) undergoing treatment at public addiction services were recruited. Self-narratives were elicited through a semi-structured interview covering eight addiction-related topics: aspecific desire, definition of addiction, onset of addiction, specific desire/craving, loss of control, relationships with the environment, relapses, and future self-projection. The occurrence of seven metaphorical clusters was identified and quantified: structural, personification, split-self, bodily, movement, ontological, and idiomatic metaphors. Results: The main findings showed a significantly higher frequency of metaphor use in the definition of addiction compared to all other thematic areas. Moreover, ontological and movement metaphors were especially prevalent in narratives addressing the definition and onset of addiction. Discussion: These results highlight how individuals with addictive disorders tend to concretize their experience through specific methaphorical patterns-particularly, ontological and movement metaphors. Overall, the use of these metaphor forms appears to provide emotional containment and representational clarity, enabling individuals to express their inner conflicts and emotional ambivalence associated with addiction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.