Psychological Medicine Laboratory, CHU-Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium.
PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e50647. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050647. Epub 2012 Nov 27.
Impulsivity is a hallmark of problem gambling. However, impulsivity is not a unitary construct and this study investigated the relationship between problem gambling severity and two facets of impulsivity: impulsive action (impaired ability to withhold a motor response) and impulsive choice (abnormal aversion for the delay of reward).
The recruitment includes 65 problem gamblers and 35 normal control participants. On the basis of DSM-IV-TR criteria, two groups of gamblers were distinguished: problem gamblers (n = 38) and pathological gamblers (n = 27) with similar durations of gambling practice. Impulsive action was assessed using a response inhibition task (the stop-signal task). Impulsive choice was estimated with the delay-discounting task. Possible confounds (e.g., IQ, mood, ADHD symptoms) were recorded.
Both problem and pathological gamblers discounted reward at a higher rate than their controls, but only pathological gamblers showed abnormally low performance on the most demanding condition of the stop-signal task. None of the potential confounds covaried with these results.
These results suggest that, whereas abnormal impulsive choice characterizes all problem gamblers, pathological gamblers' impairments in impulsive action may represent an important developmental pathway of pathological gambling.
冲动是赌博问题的一个显著特征。然而，冲动并不是一个单一的结构，本研究调查了赌博问题严重程度与冲动两个方面之间的关系：冲动行为（抑制运动反应的能力受损）和冲动选择（对奖励延迟的异常厌恶）。
该研究的招募包括 65 名赌博问题者和 35 名正常对照组参与者。根据 DSM-IV-TR 标准，将两组赌徒区分开来：赌博问题者（n=38）和病理性赌徒（n=27），他们的赌博实践持续时间相似。冲动行为通过反应抑制任务（停止信号任务）进行评估。冲动选择通过延迟折扣任务来估计。记录了可能的混杂因素（例如智商、情绪、ADHD 症状）。
问题赌徒和病理性赌徒的奖励折扣率均高于对照组，但只有病理性赌徒在停止信号任务的最苛刻条件下表现出异常低的表现。没有任何潜在的混杂因素与这些结果相关。
这些结果表明，尽管异常冲动选择是所有赌博问题者的特征，但病理性赌徒在冲动行为方面的障碍可能代表了病理性赌博的一个重要发展途径。
