Antisocial personality disorder and pathological gambling

The prevalence of antisocial personality disorder and its relationship to criminal offenses in pathological gamblers was investigated. A semi-structured interview schedule containing DSM-III criteria for antisocial personality and the California Psychological Inventory Socialisation subscale was administered to a sample of 306 pathological gamblers. Of the total sample, 35% reported no offense. Forty eight percent admitted to the commission of a gambling related offense, 6% to a non-gambling related offense, and 11% to both types of offense. Fifteen percent of subjects met DSM-III diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Though these subjects were at greatest risk for committing criminal offenses, offenses were committed independently of DSM-III antisocial personality disorder in the majority of gamblers. It was concluded that features of antisocial personality emerged in response to repeated attempts to conceal excessive gambling and gambling induced financial difficulties.