Profiling Gambling Disorder: the role of pathological personality traits

Background: Despite Gambling Disorder (GD) frequently co-occurs with personality disorders (Dowling et al., 2016), there is still a lack of studies investigating the role of pathological personality traits among addicted gamblers (AG). Indeed, previous research (Brunborg et al., 2016; Myrseth et al., 2009), showing high levels of neuroticism and low levels of Conscientiousness among such population, only measured adaptive facets of personality traits, potentially failing to account for the complexity of this topic. Method: We administered to a sample of AG (N=75) and a sample of community participants (N= 100) the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS; Lesieur & Blume, 1987) and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5, Krueger et al., 2011). Results: Analyses of variance showed that AG scored higher on every personality domains and some facets measured by the PID-5, compared to community participants. Multiple regression analysis, entering the five personality domains of the PID-5 as predictors of SOGS scores, indicated that only Disinibition significantly predicted SOGS scores whereas Detachment negatively predicted GD severity. Conclusions: Dimensional conceptualization of pathological personality appears a useful framework from which investigate GD. Results supported previous research indicating significant personality impairments among AG (Dowling et al., 2016). Clinical implications and future directions are discussed