Comorbidity in pathological gambling: clinical variables, personality and treatment response

Pathological gambling shows high comorbidity rates, especially with substance use disorders, although affective, anxiety and other impulse control disorders, as well as personality disorders, are also frequently associated.

To explore comorbidity in pathological gambling with other mental disorders in a consecutive sample of patients attending a unit specialized in pathological gambling, and specifically the relationship between substance-related disorders, on the one hand, and personality and clinical variables in pathological gamblers, on the other.

A total of 498 patients with a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of Pathological Gambling (11.8% women) were assessed with a semi-structured clinical interview and several clinical and personality scales.

Higher comorbidity with affective disorders was found in women (30.5%), while higher comorbidity with substance-related disorders was found in men (11.2%). A positive association was also detected between a history of psychiatric disorders and current comorbidity with substance-use disorders, as well as between alcohol abuse and age. Finally, some personality traits such as low reward dependence (OR=0.964) and high impulsivity (OR=1.02) predicted other substance abuse (not alcohol). High selftranscendence scores predicted both alcohol and other substance abuse (OR=1.06).

Our results suggest a high prevalence of comorbid disorders in pathologic gambling, mainly with affective and substance-related disorders. The results of the present study, conducted in a broad sample of consecutively admitted pathologic gamblers, may contribute to understanding of this complex disorder and treatment improvement.