title: Is Internet addiction a psychopathological condition distinct from pathological gambling?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The behavioural-addiction perspective suggests that Internet addiction (IA) and pathological gambling (PG) could share similar characteristics with substance dependence. Despite the similarities between IA and PG, it is not clear whether these disorders share different or similar psychopathological conditions. The aim of the present study was to test whether IA patients presented different psychological symptoms, temperamental traits, coping strategies and relational patterns compared with PG patients. The hypothesis was that IA patients will show greater interpersonal disengagement than PG patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two clinical groups (31 IA patients and 11 PG patients) and a control group (38 healthy subjects) matched with the clinical groups for gender and age were enrolled. The clinical groups were gathered in a psychiatric service for IA and PG in a hospital. Anxiety, depression, coping strategies, attachment, temperament, and global assessment of functioning were measured. MANOVAs, ANOVAs and post-hoc comparisons were carried out in order to test the hypothesis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Despite IA and PG showing similar differences with the control group on the levels of depression, anxiety and global functioning, the two clinical groups showed different temperamental, coping and social patterns. Specifically IA patients compared with the PG patients showed a greater mental and behavioural disengagement associated with an important interpersonal impairment. The two clinical groups shared an impulsive coping strategy and socio-emotional impairments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite IA and PG patients presenting similar clinical symptoms, IA condition was characterised by a more relevant mental, behavioural, and social disengagement compared to PG condition.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tonioni
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Autullo
authors.affiliation: Dynamic and Clinical Psychology Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cappelluti
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marano
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fiumana
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moschetti
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Flaminia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alimonti
authors.affiliation: Psychiatry and Psychology Institute, Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luciani
authors.affiliation: Dynamic and Clinical Psychology Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.lai@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment; Coping strategies; Internet addiction; Pathological gambling; Temperament