Background: We have investigated and analyzed the latest research on love addiction in the fields of clinical psychology, diagnosis, psychotherapy and treatment.
Methods: From 30 November 2021 to July 2022 a review was conducted aimed at identifying the current diagnostic paradigms associated with this new behavioral dependence, investigating in depth what has not yet emerged, searching for strong and weak correlations with related theoretical constructs, comorbidities, investigate which evaluation scales are currently used and outline a guiding design that allows you to move between current scientific discoveries, searching for relevant studies in the databases PubMed, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), PsycINFO, MDPI, APA, ScienceDirect, and ReserchGate.
Results: We identified a total of 102 unique articles. Among these, 22 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and 5 of these met the eligibility criteria and were, therefore, included in the final systematic review.
Conclusions: Group psychotherapy has proved to be a valid alternative, in fact the scientific landscape suggests that most group therapies are successful because these dynamics involve the reward and attachment systems in the brain in most subjects. Although there is currently no official classification for this type of addiction, the continuing interests of clinical psychology open up new scenarios for achieving greater psychophysical well-being.
Keywords: Emotional dependence; Love addiction; Love disorder; Maladaptive romantic love; New addiction; Romantic Obsession.