title: Pathological gambling severity and co-occurring psychiatric disorders in individuals with and without anxiety disorders in a nationally representative sample.
abstract: While anxiety disorders (ADs) and pathological gambling (PG) frequently co-occur with each other and other Axis I and Axis II disorders, previous studies have not examined the relative influence of ADs on the co-occurrences between PG severity and non-anxiety psychopathologies. The current study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N=43,093) to examine the influence of past-year ADs on the associations between past-year PG severity measures based on DSM-IV criteria for PG and non-anxiety psychiatric disorders. The findings revealed that increased PG severity was associated with Axes I and II psychopathology in both the groups with and without ADs. Significant anxiety-by-gambling-group interactions were also observed, particularly with respect to mood and personality disorders. The interactions indicate a stronger relationship between PG severity and psychopathology in participants without ADs than in those with ADs. Future research should investigate specific factors contributing to the co-occurrence of anxiety, gambling, and other psychiatric disorders and how the co-occurrences might influence clinically relevant phenomena such as treatment selection or course.
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Justine Lauren
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Giddens
authors.forename: Elina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stefanovics
authors.forename: Corey Elizabeth
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Pilver
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Marc Nicholas
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Potenza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology