Prevalence of pathological gambling in the alcoholism: An exploratory study

Abstract

In this paper, the prevalence of pathological gambling in 50 treatment-seeking alcoholics was estimated. The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis criteria for pathological gambling and the Spanish version of the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) were used. Results showed a rate of 20% of alcoholics with a comorbid diagnosis of pathological gambling. Furthermore, an additional 12% of the alcoholic sample had relevant symptoms for problem gambling. In sum, the 32% of the sample reported clinically significant gambling-related symptoms. Comparison between alcoholics with and without pathological gambling showed significant differences in alcohol variables, which were higher in gambling sample. However there were no significant differences between groups in the psychopathological symptoms assessed with the SCL-90-R. Implications of these results for further research and clinical practice are commented upon