Adult ADHD Is Associated With Gambling Severity and Psychiatric Comorbidity Among Treatment-Seeking Problem Gamblers.
Objective:The aim of this study is as follows: (a) exploring retrospective childhood and adult ADHD symptomatology in treatment-seeking gamblers, (b) providing detailed characteristics of the association between pathological gambling (PG) and ADHD, and (c) identifying risk factors for a history of ADHD.Method:Eighty problem gamblers (20% female) were examined using a standardized interview (PG:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders[4th ed.;DSM-IV] criteria, Gambling Attitudes and Beliefs Survey; ADHD: Wender Utah Rating Scale-deutsche Kurzform, Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale; comorbidities: Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview).Results:Forty-three percentage of patients screened positive for childhood ADHD, and in 11%, ADHD persisted in adulthood. Patients with adult ADHD had more severe gambling problems (p= .009,d= 1.03) and a higher number of psychiatric comorbidities (p< .001,d= 1.62) compared with those without ADHD. Substance abuse/dependence constituted a predictor for having a history of ADHD (odds ratio [OR] = 4.07,p= .025).Conclusion:ADHD-PG comorbidity is linked to factors that worsen the prognosis. Thus, screening for ADHD and verifying persistence in adulthood should be an integral component in theinterdisciplinarytreatment of problem/pathological gamblers.
1 University of Vienna, Austria.|2 Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Laura
L
Brandt
2 Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Gabriele
G
Fischer
D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014589:Utah
adult ADHD; cormorbidity; impulsivity; pathological gambling; problem gambling