Gambling Disorder and Substance Use Disorders: Effect of Early Age and Personality
Objectives: To compare substance use, gambling behaviors and personality traits between two different groups of individuals with a gambling disorder (young and adult patients); to explore the contribution of sex, age and personality traits on substance use; and to evaluate the capacity of age and personality traits to predict substance use. Methods: The participants were 428 gambling disorder (GD) patients, divided into two groups based on age [55 young participants (age≤25 years) and 373 middle- to old-aged participants (age>25 years)]. All were consecutively admitted to a Psychiatry Department and diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. In addition, the Diagnostic Questionnaire for Pathological Gambling according to DSM-IV criteria, the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), and other clinical measures were used to examine gambling behaviors, substance use and personality. Results: When the two age groups were compared, statistically significant differences were observed in several sociodemographic variables. Furthermore, the younger GD patients presented higher rates of drug use (p=.010). Regarding the personality traits, differences were found only in the Novelty Seeking (NS) scale, where the younger patients presented elevated scores (p=.006). Higher scores (p=.022) in NS and lower ones (p=.028) in Self-Transcendence (ST) were the personality traits significantly associated with tobacco consumption (p=.003). However, only age was associated with other substance use (p=.003). Conclusions: The results confirm that GD often co-occurs with substance use. The association between GD and the consumption of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs has a series of clinical and personality implications, particularly for young populations. Since several studies have demonstrated that GD rates are higher among younger individuals, early onset of the disorder is often associated with greater severity and persistence of the gambling problems. In addition, the presence of a dual diagnosis (drug consumption) could complicate the response to treatment. It is therefore of special interest to continue the study of young populations in order to design and implement treatment programs that address all the problems linked to the clinical profiles in this age range.