Simulation of gambling responses on the Addiction Research Center Inventory

The present study investigated possible commonalities between compulsive gambling and abuse of psychoactive drugs. Nineteen volunteers with histories of compulsive gambling were tested twice using the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI): Once answering items as they felt at the time of the test, the other time simulating how they felt while winning at gambling. The main findings were that, as measured on the ARCI, "simulated winning at gambling" produced a euphoria similar to the euphoria induced by the psychoactive drugs of abuse, particularly psychomotor stimulants; secondly, that as a group, the pathological gamblers, demonstrated elevated psychopathy scale scores similar to psychopathy scores found among persons with histories of drug dependence.