Psychiatric Comorbidity in Pathological Gamblers Seeking Treatment

TLDR: Psychiatric comorbidity is common among pathological gamblers and is associated with greater severity of clinical problems, and the DRD(2) gene could be a liability genetic factor for psychiatric comor bidity in pathological gambling.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The authors’ goal was to determine the frequency of psychiatric comorbidity among treatment-seeking pathological gamblers, compare the severity of gambling and psychological problems in gamblers with and without comorbid disorders, and investigate differences between gamblers with and without comorbid disorders in the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2). METHOD: Sixty-nine pathological gamblers who consecutively applied to a specialized outpatient treatment program were evaluated with structured interviews, self-report questionnaires, and psychological scales and were genotyped for a DRD2 polymorphism. RESULTS: A comorbid psychiatric disorder was present in 43 (62.3%) of the gamblers. The most frequent diagnoses were personality disorders (N=29 [42.0%]), alcohol abuse or dependence (N=23 [33.3%]), and adjustment disorders (N=12 [17.4%]). Gamblers with comorbid psychiatric disorders had gambling scores and psychological scale scores indicating greater severity of gambling and psychopathology. Signi...