Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T02:14:00.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Neuropsychological Characteristics and Personality Traits in Pathological Gambling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Abstract

Introduction:

Pathological gambling disorder (PG) has been associated with fronto-temporal dysfunction and maladaptive personality traits, such as impulsivity and novelty seeking. The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive variance of neuropsychological and personality characteristics in PG.

Methods:

Persons with PG (n=25) and a comparison group (n=34) were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests, the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Subjects with PG had evidence of fronto-temporal dysfunction as assessed by the Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Letter-Number Sequencing, Controlled Oral Word Association Test, and Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination Animal Naming Test.

Results:

Subjects with PG also had impaired decision making on the Iowa Gambling Task. PG subjects had elevated levels of impulsivity, novelty seeking, and harm avoidance, and lower levels of self-directedness and cooperativeness. Logistic regression analyses indicated that neuropsychological variables did not add significant incremental variance over personality traits in predicting PG (Block χ2=5.19, P=.074), while personality variables added significant incremental variance over neuropsychological traits in predicting PG (Block χ2=25.13, P<.001).

Conclusion:

These results suggest that personality traits are better predictors than neuropsychological characteristics of whether someone has PG.

Type
Original Research
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Alessi, S, Petry, N. Pathological gambling severity is associated with impulsivity in a delay discounting procedure. Behav Processes. 2003;64:345354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Cavedini, P, Riboldi, G, Keller, R, D'Annucci, A, Bellodi, L. Frontal lobe dysfunction in pathological gambling patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2002;51:334341.Google Scholar
3.Dixon, MR, Marley, J, Jacobs, EA. Delay discounting by pathological gamblers. J Appl Behav Anal. 2003;36:449458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Petry, NM. Pathological gamblers, with and without substance abuse disorders, discount delayed rewards at high rates. J Abnorm Psychol. 2001;110:482487.Google Scholar
5.Petry, NM. Substance abuse, pathological gambling, and impulsiveness. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2001;63:2938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Petry, NM, Casarella, T. Excessive discounting of delayed rewards in substance abusers with gambling problems. Drug Alcohol Depend. 1999;56:2532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Brand, M, Kalbe, E, Labudda, K, Fujiwara, E, Kessler, J, Markowitsch, HJ. Decision-making impairments in patients with pathological gambling. Psychiatry Res. 2005;133:9199.Google Scholar
8.Carlton, PL, Manowitz, P. Behavioral restraint and symptoms of attention deficit disorder in alcoholics and pathological gamblers. Neuropsychobiology. 1992;25:4448.Google Scholar
9.Carlton, PL, Manowitz, P, McBride, H, Nora, R, Schwartzburg, M, Goldstein, L. Attention deficit disorder and pathological gambling. J Clin Psychiatry. 1987;48:487488.Google Scholar
10.Rugle, L, Melamed, L. Neuropsychological assessment of attention problems in pathological gamblers. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1993;181:107112.Google Scholar
11.Kertzman, S, Lowengrub, K, Aizer, A, Nahum, ZB, Kotler, M, Dannon, PN. Stroop performance in pathological gamblers. Psychiatry Res. 2006;142:110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Regard, M, Knoch, D, Gutling, E, Landis, T. Brain damage and addictive behavior: a neuropsychological and electroencephalogram investigation with pathologic gamblers. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2003;16:4753.Google Scholar
13.Buss, DM. Human nature and individual differences: the evolution of human personality. In: Pervin, LA, John, OP, eds. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. 2nd ed. New York, NY: The Guilford Press; 1999:3156.Google Scholar
14.Goldberg, LR. Language and individual differences: the search for universals in personality lexicons. In: Wheeler, L, ed. Review of Personality and Social Psychology. Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage; 1981:141165.Google Scholar
15.Norman, WT. Toward an adequate taxonomy of personality attributes: replicated factor structure in peer nomination personality ratings. J Abnorm Soc Psychol. 1963;66:574583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Krueger, RF, Hicks, BM, Patrick, CJ, Carlson, SR, Iacono, WG, McGue, M. Etiologic connections among substance dependence, antisocial behavior, and personality: modeling the externalizing spectrum. J Abnorm Psychol. 2002;111:411424.Google Scholar
17.Krueger, RF, McGue, M, Iacono, WG. The higher-order structure of common DSM mental disorders: internalization, externalization, and their connections to personality. Pers Individ Diff. 2001;30:12451259.Google Scholar
18.Watson, D, Kotov, R, Gamez, W. Basic dimensions of temperament in relation to personality and psychopathology. In: Krueger, RF, Tackett, JL, eds. Personality and Psychopathology. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 2006:738.Google Scholar
19.Watson, D. Rethinking the mood and anxiety disorders: a quantitative hierarchical model for DSM-V. J Abnorm Psychol. 2005;114:522536.Google Scholar
20.Kim, SW, Grant, JE. Personality dimensions in pathological gambling disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Res. 2001;104:205212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Slutske, WS, Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE, Poulton, R. Personality and problem gambling: a prospective study of a birth cohort of young adults. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2005;62:769775.Google Scholar
22.Vitaro, F, Arseneault, L, Tremblay, RE. Dispositional predictors of problem gambling in male adolescents. Am J Psychiatry. 1997;154:17691770.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Cunningham-Williams, RM, Grucza, RA, Cottler, LB, et al.Prevalence and predictors of pathological gambling: results from the St. Louis personality, health and lifestyle (SLPHL) study. J Psychiatr Res. 2005;39:377390.Google Scholar
24.Martinotti, G, Andreoli, S, Giametta, E, Poli, V, Bria, P, Janiri, L. The dimensional assessment of personality in pathologic and social gamblers: The role of novelty seeking and self-transcendence. Compr Psychiatry. 2006;47:350356.Google Scholar
25.Tavares, H, Zilberman, ML, Hodgins, DC, el-Guebaly, N. Comparison of craving between pathological gamblers and alcoholics. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005;29:14271431.Google Scholar
26.Blaszczynski, A, Steel, Z, McConaghy, N. Impulsivity in pathological gambling: the antisocial impulsivist. Addiction. 1997;92:7587.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Castellani, B, Rugle, L. A comparison of pathological gamblers to alcoholics and cocaine misusers on impulsivity, sensation seeking, and craving. Int J Addict. 1995;30:275289.Google Scholar
28.Breen, RB, Zuckerman, M. ‘Chasing’ in gambling behavior: personality and cognitive determinants. Pers Individ Dif. 1999;27:10971111.Google Scholar
29.Blaszczynski, AP, Wilson, A, McConaghy, N. Sensation seeking and pathological gambling. Br J Addict. 1986;81:113117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Barnes, BL, Parwani, S. Personality assessment of compulsive gamblers. Indian J Clin Psychol. 1987;14:9899.Google Scholar
31.Black, DW, Monahan, PO, Temkit, MH, Shaw, M. A family study of pathological gambling. Psychiatry Res. 2006;141:295303.Google Scholar
32.Ibanez, A, Blanco, C, Donahue, E, et al.Psychiatric comorbidity in pathological gamblers seeking treatment. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158:17331735.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33.Kim, SW, Grant, JE, Eckert, ED, Faris, PL, Hartman, BK. Pathological gambling and mood disorders: clinical associations and treatment implications. J Affect Disord. 2006;92:109116.Google Scholar
34.Black, DW, Moyer, T. Clinical features and psychiatric comorbidity of subjects with pathological gambling behavior. Psychiatr Serv. 1998;49:14341439.Google Scholar
35.Clarke, D. Impulsivity as a mediator in the relationship between depression and problem gambling. Pers Individ Dif. 2006;40:515.Google Scholar
36.Holt, DD, Green, L, Myerson, J. Is discounting impulsive? Evidence from temporal and probability discounting in gambling and non-gambling college students. Behav Processes. 2003;64:355367.Google Scholar
37.Fuentes, D, Tavares, H, Artes, R, Gorenstein, C. Self-reported and neuropsychological measures of impulsivity in pathological gambling. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2006;12:907912.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38.Goudriaan, AE, Oosterlaan, J, de Beurs, E, Van den Brink, W. The role of self-reported impulsivity and reward sensitivity versus neurocognitive measures of disinhibition and decision-making in the prediction of relapse in pathological gamblers. Psychol Med. 2008;38:4150.Google Scholar
39.Benjamin, J, Li, L, Patterson, C, Greenberg, BD, Murphy, DL, Hamer, DH. Population and familial association between the D4 dopamine receptor gene and measures of novelty seeking. Nat Genet. 1996;12:8184.Google Scholar
40.Cloninger, CR, Adolfsson, R, Svrakic, NM. Mapping genes for human personality. Nat Genet. 1996;12:34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41.Ebstein, RP, Novick, O, Umansky, R, et al.Dopamine D4 receptor (D4DR) exon III polymorphism associated with the human personality trait of novelty seeking. Nat Genet. 1996;12:7880.Google Scholar
42.Pérez de Castro, I, Ibáñez, A, Torres, P, Sáiz-Ruiz, J, Fernández-Piqueras, J. Genetic association study between pathological gambling and a functional DNA polymorphism at the D4 receptor gene. Pharmacogenetics. 1997;7:121126.Google Scholar
43.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.Google Scholar
44.Gerstein, D, Hoffmann, J, Larison, C, et al.Gambling Impact and Behavior Study: Report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. Chicago, Ill: National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago; 1999.Google Scholar
45.Lesieur, HR, Blume, SB. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS): a new instrument for the identification of pathological gamblers. Am J Psychiatry. 1987;144:11841188.Google ScholarPubMed
46.Spitzer, RL, Williams, JBW, Gibbon, M. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. New York, NY. New York State Psychiatric Institute, Biometrics Research; 1994.Google Scholar
47.Wechsler, D. Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence™ (WASI). San Antonio, Tex: The Psychological Corporation; 1999.Google Scholar
48.Stroop, J. Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. J Exp Psychol. 1992;121:1523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49.Wechsler, D. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. 3rd ed. (WAIS–III). San Antonio, Tex: The Psychological Corporation; 1997.Google Scholar
50.Reitan, RM. Trail Making Test: Manual for Administration and Scoring. South Tucson, Ariz: Reitan Neuropsychology Laboratory; 1992.Google Scholar
51.Berg, EA. A simple objective technique for measuring flexibility in thinking. J Gen Psychol. 1948;39:1522.Google Scholar
52.Bechara, A, Damasio, H, Tranel, D, Damasio, AR. Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science. 1997;275:12931294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53.Bechara, A. Risky business: emotion, decision-making, and addiction. J Gambl Stud. 2003;19:2351.Google Scholar
54.Benton, AL. Development of a multilingual aphasia battery: progress and problems. J Neurol Sci. 1969;9:3948.Google Scholar
55.Goodglass, H, Kaplan, E. The Assessment of Aphasia and Related Disorders. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Penn: Lea and Febigar; 1983.Google Scholar
56.Wilkinson, G. The Wide Range Achievement Test 3(WRAT3). Lutz, Fla: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc; 1993.Google Scholar
57.Seltzer, ML, Vinokur, A, Van Rooijen, LJ. A self-administered short Michigan alcohol screening test (SMAST). J Stud Alcohol. 1975;36:117126.Google Scholar
58.Beck, AT. Depression Inventory. Philadelphia, Penn: Philadelphia Center for Cognitive Therapy; 1978.Google Scholar
59.Barratt, EE. Anxiety and impulsiveness related to psychomotor efficiency. Percept Mot Skills. 1959;9:191198.Google Scholar
60.Cloninger, C, Svrakic, DM, Przybeck, TR. A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Arch General Psychiatry. 1993;50:975990.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
61.Ebstein, RP, Segman, R, Benjamin, J, Osher, Y, Nemanov, L, Belmaker, RH. 5-HT2c (HTR2C) serotonin receptor gene polymorphism associated with the human personality trait of reward dependence: interaction with dopamine D4 receptor (D4DR) and dopamine D3 receptor (D3DR) polymorphisms. Am J Med Genetics. 1997;74:6572.Google Scholar
62. SPSS for Windows, version 15.0.1. Chicago, Ill: SPSS, Inc.; 2006.Google Scholar
63.Dobie, T, McFarland, K, Long, N. Raw score and factor score multiple regression: an evaluative comparison. Edu Psychol Meas. 1986;46:337347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
64.Chatterjee, S, Price, B. Regression Analysis by Example. New York, NY: Wiley; 1977.Google Scholar
65.Brown, T. The common factor model and exploratory factor analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 2006:1237.Google Scholar
66.Morris, JD. The Predictive accuracy of full-rank variables vs. various types of factor scores: implications for test validation. Edu Psychol Meas. 1980;40:389396.Google Scholar
67.Pedhazur, EJ. Prediction. Multiple Regression in Behavioral Research: Explanation and Prediction. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Penn: Wadsworth Thomson Learning; 1997:195241.Google Scholar
68.Meehl, PE. Nuisance variables and the ex post facto design. In: Radner, M, Winokur, S, eds. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. 4th ed. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press; 1970.Google Scholar
69.Conrad, H. Information which should be provided by test publishers and testing agencies on the validity and use of their tests. Paper presented at: 1949 Invitational Conference on Testing Problems; Princeton, NJ. 1950.Google Scholar
70.Cronbach, LJ, Gleser, GC. Psychological Tests and Personnel Decisions. 2nd ed. Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press; 1965.Google Scholar
71.Cattell, RB, Butcher, HJ. The Prediction of Achievement and Creativity. Indianapolis, Ind: Bobbs-Merrill; 1968.Google Scholar
72.Goudriaan, AE, Oosterlaan, J, de Beurs, E, Van den Brink, W. Pathological gambling: a comprehensive review of biobehavioral findings. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2004;28:123141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
73.Berkson, J. Limitations of the application of fourfold tables to hospital data. Biol Bull. 1949;2:4753.Google Scholar
74.National Institute of Mental Health. Strategic Planning Reports. Available at: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/strategic-planning-reports. Accessed February 14, 2008.Google Scholar
75.Gottesman, II, Hanson, DR. Human development: biological and genetic processes. Annu Rev Psychol. 2005;56:263286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed