1Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
2Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, UK.
J Behav Addict. 2024 Aug 13;13(3):761-767. doi: 10.1556/2006.2024.00042. Print 2024 Oct 4.
Although family history of psychiatric disorders has often been considered potentially useful in understanding clinical presentations in patients, it is less clear what a positive gambling family history means for people with gambling disorder. We sought to understand the clinical impact of having a first-degree relative with gambling disorder in a sample of adults with gambling disorder.
Data from 455 participants (aged 18-65 years) who had participated in previous pharmacological and psychotherapeutic clinical trials for gambling disorder were pooled in a secondary analysis. Demographic and clinical variables were compared between those who did versus did not have one or more first-degree relative(s) with gambling disorder. Additionally, we examined whether a family history of gambling disorder was associated with treatment outcome.
223 (49.0%) participants had at least one first-degree family member(s) with gambling disorder. In terms of clinical variables, family history of gambling disorder was significantly associated with being female, having an earlier age of gambling onset, longer duration of untreated gambling illness, a greater likelihood of developing legal problems secondary to gambling, and higher rates of alcohol use disorder in family members. Family history of gambling disorder was also associated with a greater gambling symptom improvement from pharmacotherapy.
These results indicate that gamblers with a first-degree family member with a gambling disorder may have a unique clinical presentation and better response to treatment interventions.
尽管家族精神病史通常被认为有助于理解患者的临床表现，但阳性赌博家族史对赌博障碍患者意味着什么尚不清楚。我们旨在了解在赌博障碍患者样本中，一级亲属患有赌博障碍对患者的临床影响。
在一项对赌博障碍患者进行药物和心理治疗的临床试验中，对 455 名 18-65 岁的参与者的数据进行了二次分析。对有或没有一级亲属（父母、子女或兄弟姐妹）患有赌博障碍的患者的人口统计学和临床变量进行了比较。此外，我们还检查了赌博障碍家族史是否与治疗结果有关。
223 名（49.0%）参与者至少有一位一级亲属患有赌博障碍。在临床变量方面，赌博障碍家族史与女性、赌博发病年龄较早、未接受治疗的赌博时间较长、因赌博而产生法律问题的可能性较大以及家庭成员中酒精使用障碍的发生率较高有关。赌博障碍家族史也与药物治疗后的赌博症状改善有关。
这些结果表明，有一级亲属患有赌博障碍的赌徒可能具有独特的临床表现和对治疗干预的更好反应。
