Is gambling disorder associated with impulsivity traits measured by the UPPS-P and is this association moderated by sex and age?
Impulsivity is a construct that is strongly associated with Gambling Disorder (GD). The main objectives in the present study are: 1) to explore the role of sex and age on impulsivity levels in GD patients; 2) to identify the relationship of the different impulsivity facets with comorbid psychopathology and other personality traits in GD patients; and (3) to assess whether impulsivity is a predictor for the severity of GD.



The final sample consisted of 406 consecutive participants. All of them were seeking treatment for GD (88.4% male and 11.6% female) and completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), the Temperament and Character Inventory-R (TCI-R) as well as other clinical and psychopathological measures.



Results show a negative linear trend between age and lower sensation seeking levels as well as lack of premeditation (the higher the age the lower the UPPS-P scores), and a positive linear trend between age and positive urgency (UR) (the higher the age the higher the UPPS-P score). However, no sex differences were found for the assessed impulsivity dimensions. Lack of perseverance was positively associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms and harm avoidance trait, and negatively related to persistence and self-directedness traits. Positive UR and negative UR were positively correlated with general psychopathology and the total number of DSM-IV criteria, and negatively associated to the following personality traits: self-directedness and cooperativeness. Finally, only the sensation seeking and negative UR of the UPPS-P showed predictive capacity on the severity of the disorder (the higher the impulsivity scores the higher the illness severity).



These findings highlight the association between impulsivity traits (measured by the UPPS-P) and GD in a large and consecutively recruited clinical sample with GD, taking into account the variables sex and age.
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Lamprini G
LG
Savvidou
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
Ana B
AB
Fagundo
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain.
Fernando
F
Fernández-Aranda
Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Psicobiologia i Metodologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
Roser
R
Granero
Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Laurence
L
Claes
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
Núria
N
Mallorquí-Baqué
School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Institute of Neuroscience F. Oloriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain and Red de Trastornos Adictivos, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.
Antonio
A
Verdejo-García
Douglas University Institute in Mental Health & Psychiatry Department, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Howard
H
Steiger
Douglas University Institute in Mental Health & Psychiatry Department, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Mimi
M
Israel
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Laura
L
Moragas
Departament d'Infermeria de Salut Pública, Salut Mental i Maternoinfantil, Escola Universitària d'Infermeria, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
Amparo
A
Del Pino-Gutiérrez
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Neus
N
Aymamí
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Mónica
M
Gómez-Peña
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.
Zaida
Z
Agüera
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain.
Iris
I
Tolosa-Sola
University of Catania, Department of Psychiatry. A.O.U. "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Presidio Gaspare Rodolico", U.O.P.I. of Psychiatry, Catania, Italy.
Melania
M
La Verde
University of Catania, Department of Psychiatry. A.O.U. "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, Presidio Gaspare Rodolico", U.O.P.I. of Psychiatry, Catania, Italy.
Eugenio
E
Aguglia
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Salud Mental (CIBERsam), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
José M
JM
Menchón
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Bellvitge-IDIBELL, Barcelona, Spain; Ciber Fisiopatologia Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: sjimenez@bellvitgehospital.cat.
Susana
S
Jiménez-Murcia
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002605:Character; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013694:Temperament