Recent research on the comorbidity of alcoholism and pathological gambling.
This article summarizes a symposium held at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in San Francisco, CA, and was prepared on behalf of the symposium participants by the symposium co-organizers/co-chairs. Prior research with both clinical and nonclinical populations indicates a high comorbidity between alcohol-use disorders and pathological gambling. This symposium involved a set of papers in which exciting new research on this form of comorbidity was presented. The studies spanned populations of problem-gambling helpline callers, problem gamblers attempting to recover, and community-recruited gambler research volunteers. The studies used methodologies ranging from questionnaire and interview to laboratory-based paradigms (i.e., cognitive and alcohol challenge). Study designs ranged from cross-sectional to longitudinal and from correlation to experiment. The symposium highlighted novel approaches that researchers are using to enhance understanding of functional relations that may underlie this common comorbidity.
Stewart
Sherry H
SH
Department of Psychology (SHS), Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. sherry.stewart@dal.ca
Kushner
Matt G
MG
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans