Impulsivity Moderates the Association Between Anxiety and Problem Gambling Among Canadian Undergraduates

Association Between Gambling Motives, Violence and Early Maladaptive Schemas in Women with Gambling Disorder

Analyzing why being a victim of violence has led women to have problems with gambling is a field yet to be explored. Thus, the objectives of the present study were (I) analyze the relationship between gambling motives, received psychological violence, and early maladaptive schemas in women; (II) study differences in the study variables in women with and without gambling disorder (GD); (III) analyze the predictive role of violence and schemas in gambling motives; and (IV) analyze the mediating role of schemas in the relationship between violence and gambling motives. The sample comprised 61 women with GD (M = 48.43, SD = 12.78) and 342 women without GD (M = 26.91, SD = 11.47). The results of the present study revealed positive correlations between gambling motives, psychological violence received and early maladaptive schemas. In addition, women with GD scored higher on the study variables. It was also found that early maladaptive schemas based on subjugation and defectiveness may be a vulnerability factor for engaging in gambling to cope with the negative emotions produced by gender violence. From a clinical perspective, knowing the risk factors related to gambling motives in women is crucial to developing effective prevention and intervention programs.

The Influence of Genetic Polymorphic Variability of the Catechol-O-methyltransferase Gene in a Group of Patients with a Diagnosis of Behavioural Addiction, including Personality Traits

Gambling Disorder (GD) is characterised by a harmful, enduring, and recurrent involvement in betting-related behaviours. Therefore, GD shares similar biological mechanisms and symptoms to substance use disorders (SUD). Therefore, in this study, we chose the behavioural addictions group. During the examination and recruitment to the study, it turned out that all the people undergoing treatment for gambling addiction were also addicted to amphetamines, which is consistent with the biological mechanism related to cerebral neurotransmission. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of the COMT gene polymorphism with behavioral addiction. The study group consisted of 307 participants: 107 men with gambling disorder and amphetamine dependency (mean age = 27.51, SD = 5.25) and 200 non-addicted, nor dependent, free from neuro-psychiatric disorders control group men (mean age = 20.20, SD = 4.51). Both groups were subjected to psychometric evaluation using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the NEO Five-Factor Personality Inventory. Genomic DNA was extracted from venous blood following standard protocols. Determination of the rs4680 polymorphism in the COMT gene was performed using the real-time PCR technique. Statistically significant differences in the frequency of rs4680 genotypes were found in the tested sample of subjects compared with the control group (p = 0.03543). Subjects with gambling disorder and amphetamine use disorder compared to the control group obtained higher scores in the assessment of the STAI trait scale (p = 0.0019), state scale (p < 0.0000), and NEO-FFI Neuroticism scale (p < 0.0000). Significantly lower results were obtained for the NEO-FFI Agreeability scale (p < 0.0000). Additionally, a significant statistical impact of gambling disorder and amphetamine use disorder, and the COMT rs4680 genotype was demonstrated for the score of the STAI trait (p = 0.0351) and state (p = 0.0343) and the NEO-FFI Conscientiousness scale (p = 0.0018). We conclude that COMT and its polymorphic variant influence the development of addiction. Still, considering its multifactorial and polygenic nature, it should be combined with other factors such as personality.