Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Online Gamers
Published on: November 9, 2019
Gender differences in the associations between past-year gambling problems and psychiatric disorders
1Dept. of Psychiatry and Women and Addictive Disorders, Core of Women's Health Research, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. rani.desai@yale.edu
Background:
Psychiatric disorders frequently co-occur with pathological gambling. The extent to which co-occurence extends to subsyndromal levels of gambling or differs between women and men is incompletely understood.
Aim:
To examine whether the association between psychiatric disorders and past-year gambling problems is stronger in women than men.
Methods:
Data from the national epidemiological survey of alcoholism and related disorders (NESARC) (n = 43,093) were analyzed.
Results:
Increasing severity of past-year gambling problems was associated with increasing odds of most past-year Axis I and lifetime Axis II disorders, regardless of gender. Associations between gambling problems and major depression, dysthymia, panic disorder, and nicotine dependence were statistically stronger in women than in men.
Conclusions:
A severity-related association exists between past-year gambling problems and psychiatric disorders. The stronger associations in women suggest that gambling research, prevention and treatment efforts consider gender differences.
Related Concept Videos
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Panic Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
Anorexia Nervosa
Symptoms and Physical Effects
Individuals with anorexia nervosa commonly exhibit extreme...
Theoretical Approaches to Psychological Disorder
Biological approach
The biological approach posits that internal, organic factors are the primary causes of such disorders. This perspective emphasizes brain structure and function, genetic predispositions, and neurotransmitter imbalances. For example, schizophrenia has been associated with both genetic...
