Pathological gamblers and a non-psychiatric control group taking gender differences into account.

The current study aimed to identify personality traits, emotional states and adjustment variables in a sample of pathological gamblers as compared to a non-gambling control group taking gender differences into account. The sample for this study consisted of 206 subjects (103 pathological gamblers and 103 non-psychiatric subjects from the general population matched for age and gender). Pathological gamblers had a lower educational level and a family history of alcohol abuse higher than non-gamblers. In turn, female gamblers were affected by unemployment and a lower socioeconomic status more often than female non-gamblers. Pathological gamblers were more anxious and impulsive and suffered from a poorer self-esteem than non-gamblers. Likewise, pathological gamblers had a greater history of other Axis I psychiatric disorders and were more often affected by anxiety and depression symptoms and showed a more problematic adjustment to everyday life than non-gamblers. Alcohol abuse was not higher in pathological gamblers than in non-gamblers, but, when gender was taken into account, male gamblers were more affected by alcohol abuse than male non-gamblers. Importantly 68.6% of female gamblers versus 9.8% of control group women reported being victims of intimate partner violence. These findings can be used to specifically inform prevention and intervention efforts.