Association of cognitive distortions with problem and pathological gambling in adult male twins.

Treatment studies suggest that gambling-related irrational beliefs and attitudes (i.e., cognitive distortions (CDs)) contribute to the risk for problem gambling behavior.

A Latent Class Analysis of DSM-III-R Pathological Gambling Criteria in Middle-Aged Men: Association with Psychiatric Disorders.

Purpose: : This study was designed to empirically derive latent classes based on PG criteria and to assess the association between nongambling psychiatric disorders and specific classes.

Methods: : A total of 8138 community-based middle-aged men were surveyed, and 2720 were assessed for Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version 3, Revised (DIS-III-R) pathologic gambling (PG). Latent class analysis (LCA) was applied to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Version 3, Revised (DSM-III-R) criteria to identify gambling classes.

Genetic and environmental contributions to pathological gambling symptoms in a 10-year follow-up.

Problem (P) and pathological gambling (PG) symptoms wax and wane. Past symptoms are a risk for future symptoms even after controlling for familial influences. To address the genetic architecture of lifetime PG and current PG symptoms, we tested for common and unique genetic factors to lifetime PG symptoms at baseline and past year PG symptoms at 10-year follow-up.

Factors associated with pathological gambling at 10-year follow-up in a national sample of middle-aged men.

Background: The present analyses will expand on previous reports by considering the impact of eight psychiatric disorders and genetic vulnerability to problem (P) and pathological gambling gambling (PG). methods: Diagnoses of DSM-III-R life-time P and PG were derived in 1992 and past-year P and PG in 2002 from 1675 individual twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Logistic regression was used to predict past-year P and PG as a function of socio-demographics and life-time co-occurring psychiatric disorders including gambling problems measured in 1992.

Course of pathological gambling symptoms and reliability of the Lifetime Gambling History measure.

The DSM-IV describes pathological gambling as a chronic condition with an insidious course. However, several extant studies characterize pathological and problem gambling as fluctuating over time. The present analyses expand on previous reports by evaluating changes in pathological gambling symptoms across the lifetime.

Association between exposure to childhood and lifetime traumatic events and lifetime pathological gambling in a twin cohort.

The present study seeks to estimate the strength of the association between exposure to lifetime traumatic events and gambling problems while accounting for the potential contribution of psychiatric disorders, genetic factors, and family environmental influences. In 2002, structured diagnostic interviews were conducted with 1675 male twins to obtain data on exposure to traumatic events and pathological gambling. Multinomial regression tested for associations between each traumatic event and three levels of problem gambling (1-2 symptoms, at risk; 3-4 symptoms, problem gambling, and 5 or more symptoms, pathological gambling).

Effect of genes, environment, and lifetime co-occurring disorders on health-related quality of life in problem and pathological gamblers.

Background: Problem and pathological gambling are associated with many impairments in quality of life, including financial, family, legal, and social problems. Gambling disorders commonly co-occur with other psychiatric disorders, such as alcoholism and depression. Although these consequences and correlates have been reported, little is known about the health-related functional impairment associated with gambling.

Genetic studies of pathological gambling: a review of methodology and analyses of data from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry.

Twin studies represent an important and powerful approach to estimating the relative contributions of environmental and genetic factors to the expression of psychiatric illnesses. In this article, we first explain the rationale for using large populations of monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to a disorder and the statistical modeling associated with this approach. We then review results from studies of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry that use this methodology to examine the etiology of pathological gambling (PG) behaviors.

Impaired physical performance and the assessment of dementia of the Alzheimer type.

Context: Impaired physical performance may confound the clinical assessment of dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT).

Objectives: Determine whether: (1) Physical Performance Test (PPT) scores are associated with the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), (2) PPT scores are correlated with clinical measures of health, and (3) impaired physical performance affects the clinical assessment of DAT.

Design: A retrospective and cross-sectional study.