A direct, controlled, blind family study of DSM-IV pathological gambling.

Objective: Pathological gambling is a major public health problem. We sought to examine the familiality of pathological gambling and determine patterns of familial aggregation of disorders.

Method: We assessed probands with DSM-IV pathological gambling, controls, and their first-degree relatives.

An open-label trial of acamprosate in the treatment of pathological gambling.

Background: The efficacy and tolerability of acamprosate has been tested in the treatment of pathological gambling (PG). Acamprosate is known to reduce alcohol craving and use in persons with alcohol dependence, and it has been hypothesized that the drug would have a similar effect in individuals with PG.

Methods: Participants with DSM-IV criteria for PG received acamprosate in an 8-week, open-label trial following a 2-week observation.

Extended release carbamazepine in the treatment of pathological gambling: an open-label study.

Background: The efficacy and tolerability of extended release carbamazepine was tested in the treatment of pathological gambling (PG).

Method: Non-depressed outpatients with DSM-IV PG received flexibly dosed extended release carbamazepine in a prospective 10-week open-label trial following a two-week observation period. Subjects were evaluated at baseline and at one week intervals during a four week titration period, and every two weeks thereafter for assessment of gambling behavior, mood, and adverse experiences.

The effect of pathological gambling on families, marriages, and children.

Pathological gambling (PG) is widely reported to have negative consequences on marriages, families, and children. Empirical evidence is only now accumulating but when put together with anecdotal information, the extent of these problems is clear. PG contributes to chaos and dysfunction within the family unit, disrupts marriages, leading to high rates of separation and divorce, and is associated with child abuse and neglect.

Bupropion in the treatment of pathological gambling: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, flexible-dose study.

We tested the efficacy of bupropion in the treatment of persons with pathological gambling (PG). Nondepressed, healthy subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition PG were randomly assigned to placebo or flexibly dosed bupropion in a 12-week double-blind trial. Outcome measures included the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale modified for PG, the Gambling Severity Assessment Scale, the Clinical Global Impression Improvement and Severity Scales, the Global Assessment Scale, the Timeline Follow Back, the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale, and the Sheehan Disability Scale.