title: A Latent Class Analysis of DSM-III-R Pathological Gambling Criteria in Middle-Aged Men: Association with Psychiatric Disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  : This study was designed to empirically derive latent classes based on PG criteria and to assess the association between nongambling psychiatric disorders and specific classes.
  
  
  METHODS
  : A total of 8138 community-based middle-aged men were surveyed, and 2720 were assessed for Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version 3, Revised (DIS-III-R) pathologic gambling (PG). Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 3, Revised (DSM-III-R) criteria to identify gambling classes. χ and logistic regression models evaluated the association between gambling classes and lifetime psychiatric disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : The final model included 4 classes: class 0 (ie, 5418 individuals who never gambled 25 or more times per year) and classes 1-3 (identified by the LCA and comprising 2720 respondents assessed for PG). For the 9 individual criteria of PG, endorsement percentages ranged from 2%-6%, 4%-58%, and 53%-100% for classes 1-3, respectively. Nongambling psychiatric disorders were differentially associated with the 4 gambling classes, and psychopathology was more common in groups more frequently acknowledging PG criteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  : Empirical support is provided for distinct classes of gambling behaviors demonstrating differential associations with individual PG criteria and nongambling psychiatric disorders. The data-driven categorization of gambling behaviors provides direction for research on defining, preventing, and treating syndromal and subsyndromal PG.
authors.affiliation: Research ServiceSt. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xian
authors.forename: Kamini R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Potenza
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Volberg
authors.forename: Sunanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chantarujikapong
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: True
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.forename: Ming T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Tsuang
authors.forename: Seth A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Eisen