Are There Different Types of Problem Gamblers?

Although pathological gambling (PG) is regarded in the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a unitary diagnostic construct, it is likely composed of distinct subtypes. In a report published in the December 2009 issue of Psychological Assessment, the authors used cluster analyses of personality traits with a non-treatment-seeking community sample of gamblers and identified 3 PG subtypes. Gamblers partitioned into a simple PG cluster, characterized by low rates of associated psychopathology and trait scores near the normative mean; a hedonic PG cluster, characterized by moderate rates of associated psychopathology and a proclivity for excitement seeking and positive affect; and a demoralized PG cluster, characterized by high rates of associated psychopathology and a propensity toward negative affect, low positive emotionality, and disinhibition.  Hedonic and demoralized problem gamblers were found to be significantly more impulsive that simple problem gamblers (who didn't differ significantly from non-PG controls in impulsivity).  While the authors recognized the limitation of the study (especially in terms of the small sample size used with thirty individuals in each group, the findings provide preliminary support for an empirically based typology of gamblers, distinguishable in terms of personality structure, which may reflect different etiologies.

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