Alessi S M., Petry N M.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, 06030-3944, Farmington, CT, USA
Behav Processes. 2003 Oct 31;64(3):345-354. doi: 10.1016/s0376-6357(03)00150-5.
Research and clinical expertise indicates that impulsivity is an underlying feature of pathological gambling. This study examined the extent to which impulsive behavior, defined by the rate of discounting delayed monetary rewards, varies with pathological gambling severity, assessed by the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Sixty-two pathological gamblers completed a delay discounting task, the SOGS, the Eysenck impulsivity scale, the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), and questions about gambling and substance use at intake to outpatient treatment for pathological gambling. In the delay discounting task, participants chose between a large delayed reward (US $1000) and smaller more immediate rewards (US $1-$999) across a range of delays (6h to 25 years). The rate at which the delayed reward was discounted (k value) was derived for each participant and linear regression was used to identify the variables that predicted k values. Age, gender, years of education, substance abuse treatment history, and cigarette smoking history failed to significantly predict k values. Scores on the Eysenck impulsivity scale and the SOGS both accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in k values. The predictive value of the SOGS was 1.4 times that of the Eysenck scale. These results indicate that of the measures tested, gambling severity was the best single predictor of impulsive behavior in a delay discounting task in this sample of pathological gamblers.
研究与临床专业知识表明，冲动性是病态赌博的一个潜在特征。本研究考察了以延迟货币奖励的折扣率定义的冲动行为，随通过南橡树赌博筛查量表（SOGS）评估的病态赌博严重程度而变化的程度。62名病态赌徒完成了一项延迟折扣任务、SOGS、艾森克冲动性量表、成瘾严重程度指数（ASI），以及在进入病态赌博门诊治疗时关于赌博和物质使用的问题。在延迟折扣任务中，参与者在一系列延迟时间（6小时至25年）内，在大额延迟奖励（1000美元）和小额即时奖励（1美元至999美元）之间进行选择。为每位参与者得出延迟奖励的折扣率（k值），并使用线性回归来确定预测k值的变量。年龄、性别、受教育年限、物质滥用治疗史和吸烟史均未能显著预测k值。艾森克冲动性量表和SOGS的得分均在k值的方差中占显著比例。SOGS的预测价值是艾森克量表的1.4倍。这些结果表明，在本样本的病态赌徒中，在所测试的指标中，赌博严重程度是延迟折扣任务中冲动行为的最佳单一预测指标。
