Gambling on the stock market: an unexplored issue.
OBJECTIVE
Stock market investment (SMI) is one of the most socially acceptable types of gambling, which, however, can turn into a gambling problem. Because it is barely examined, we compared a series of clinical, psychopathologic, and personality variables in SMI gambling patients (both as primary and secondary problem) with a group of traditional pathologic gamblers (PGs).


METHODS
A total sample of 1470 PGs (1376 patients without SMIs [PG-SMI], 76 patients with SMI as a secondary gambling problem [PG+SMI], and 18 patients with SMI as a primary gambling problem [SMI+PG]) participated in this study. All participants were diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria. The following instruments were used: the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Symptom Check List-90 Items-Revised, the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised, and other clinical and psychopathologic indices.


RESULTS
The 3 patient groups' profiles were statistically similar in psychometrical measures. The risk of having SMI increased for patients with higher education, and the presence of SMI as a primary problem in PGs increased with university study level and higher scores on the personality trait of cooperativeness.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate comparability of SMI gamblers with PGs in their general clinical profile and in psychopathology and personality.
Laboratori d'Estadística Aplicada, Departament de Psicobiologia i Metodologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Roser
R
Granero
Salomé
S
Tárrega
Fernando
F
Fernández-Aranda
Neus
N
Aymamí
Mónica
M
Gómez-Peña
Laura
L
Moragas
Núria
N
Custal
Lisa
L
Orekhova
Lamprini G
LG
Savvidou
José M
JM
Menchón
Susana
S
Jiménez-Murcia
D000328:Adult; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires