State of the art of studies investigating the relationship between emotion regulation and gambling disorder: preliminary results from a systematic review study

Background: Despite the fact that the role played by Emotion Regulation (ER) in Gam-bling Disorder (GD) has been for long neglected in the gambling research field, a growing number of recent studies investigated this topic. Still, the role of ER in GD remains under-mined and ignored in most treatment protocols or guidelines. This may be partially due to the lack of systematic examination of empirical results providing solid and definitive indications that can be translated in clinical practice. The aim of the present study is thus to conduct a systematic review on such topic.Methods: Following the PRISMA statements, a systematic search was conducted.Results: We identified twenty-eight studies that explored ER features and strategies in gambling. Despite most of the study supported the hypothesis of a relationship between GD and general ER deficits, results are not consistent with regard to the nature of the features characterizing ER profiles of DGs. Also, results appear to differ as a function of the sample used across studies. Finally, despite promising preliminary evidences, some features of ER appeared to be under-examined in empirical literature (e.g. rumination processes).Discussion: Clinical implications, methodological issues and future lines of research are discussed.