title: The impact of alexithymia on pathological gamblers' decision making: a preliminary study of gamblers recruited in "sportsbook" casinos.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether alexithymia is at the root of the decision-making deficit classically reported in pathological gamblers.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Alexithymia has been shown to be a recurrent personality trait of pathological gamblers and to impair the decision-making abilities of nonpathological gamblers, but no previous studies have investigated whether alexithymia significantly affects pathological gamblers' decision making. Although investigations of pathological gamblers typically have studied those seeking treatment, most pathological gamblers do not seek treatment. Thus, to study people representative of the general population of pathological gamblers, we conducted our study in "sportsbook" casinos with a small sample of gamblers who were not seeking treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited gamblers in sportsbooks and classified them based on their scores on the South Oaks Gambling Screen and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale: 3 groups of pathological gamblers (6 alexithymic, 8 possibly alexithymic, and 6 nonalexithymic) and 8 healthy controls. All of the participants completed an adaptation of the Iowa Gambling Task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The alexithymic group chose less advantageously on the task than the other groups. The severity of the deficit in decision-making abilities was related to the severity of alexithymia, even when we controlled for the effects of anxiety and depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings provide preliminary evidence that alexithymia might be a critical personality trait underlying pathological gamblers' decision-making deficits.
authors: *National Center for Scientific Research Unit 8240, Laboratory for the Psychology of Child Development and Education, Paris Descartes University (IUPDP), Sorbonne Paris Cité †Caen University, France ‡Laboratory of Psychopathology and Health Processes, Paris Descartes University (IUPDP), Sorbonne Paris Cité, France §Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France.
authors: Ania
authors: A
authors: Aïte
authors: Servane
authors: S
authors: Barrault
authors: Mathieu
authors: M
authors: Cassotti
authors: Grégoire
authors: G
authors: Borst
authors: Céline
authors: C
authors: Bonnaire
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Houdé
authors: Isabelle
authors: I
authors: Varescon
authors: Sylvain
authors: S
authors: Moutier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index