Effect of executive functioning, decision-making and self-reported impulsivity on the treatment outcome of pathologic gambling.
BACKGROUND
Impairments in self-regulatory behaviour reflect a deficit in executive functioning and decision-making, as well as higher levels of self-reported impulsivity, and may be involved in the development and maintenance of addictive disorders. We sought to explore the association between self-reported impulsivity and neurocognitive measures, and their association with treatment outcome in pathologic gambling.


METHODS
We assessed patients with pathologic gambling using executive functioning and decision-making tests and self-report measures of impulsivity. Patients underwent cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for pathologic gambling.


RESULTS
We included 88 patients (8% women) in our study. High self-reported extravagance was associated with poor performance in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT)-ABCD version. High impulsiveness, low disorderliness, high exploratory excitability (trend), poor backward block span and poor IGT-EFGH scores (trend) predicted dropout. We observed no self-reported or neurocognitive predictors of relapse or number of treatment sessions attended.


CONCLUSIONS
Most participants were slot-machine gamblers seeking treatment. No follow-up data and no control group were included in the study. The missing sample (i.e., individuals who were recruited and assessed in the pretreatment stage but who chose not to begin treatment) had higher extravagance scores than the final sample.


CONCLUSIONS
Neurocognitive reward sensitivity was related to self-reported overspending behaviour. Self-regulatory impairments (especially rash impulsiveness and punishment sensitivity) and executive dysfunction predicted only dropout of CBT in participants with pathologic gambling. Different neurocognitive processes and personality traits might mediate treatment response to psychological therapy of pathologic gambling according to the specific target variable assessed.
CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERObn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain. eva.alvarez@uab.cat
Eva M
EM
Alvarez-Moya
Cristian
C
Ochoa
Susana
S
Jiménez-Murcia
Maria Neus
MN
Aymamí
Mónica
M
Gómez-Peña
Fernando
F
Fernández-Aranda
Juanjo
J
Santamaría
Laura
L
Moragas
Francesca
F
Bove
José M
JM
Menchón
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003657:Decision Making; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome