The Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS)

The WAGER Vol. 8(51) - For the Love of Money… or the Disregard of Future Consequences?

According to DSM-IV, disordered gambling is an impulse disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Research has found relationships between poor impulse control and gambling problems (Blaszczynski & Steel, 1998; Chambers & Potenza, 2003; Vitaro, Arsenault, & Tremblay, 1999), and heavy gamblers often display impaired decision-making characteristics that are common among people with high impulsivity (Alessi & Petry, 2003). Though the etiology of impulsive decision-making is still unknown, two primary possibilities exist: (1) neurological hypersensitivity to reward (Chambers, Taylor, & Potenza, 2003; Holden, 2001), or (2) a failure or inability to consider and evaluate future consequences (Bechara, 2003). Though these mechanisms are... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 8(50) - Paths to Recovery Part 2: To Treat or Not To Treat

In the United States, DSM-IV represents the contemporary psychiatric manual for classifying mental illness for most clinicians; it is used as a guide to “diagnose, communicate about, study, and treat people with various mental disorders” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. xxxvii). Evidence suggests, however, that some mental disorders do not always require treatment. For example, many individuals experience a “natural recovery” from alcohol, tobacco, and other substance use disorders (Carey, Kalra, Carey, Halperin, & Richards, 1993; Mariezcurrena, 1996; Sobell, Ellingstad, & Sobell, 2000; Stall & Biernacki, 1986; Vaillant, 1966). Recently, the WAGER examined a preliminary yet compelling review of research... Read more →

The WAGER Vol. 8(49) - Measuring Risk Among Non-PGs: A New Look at the SOGS

As evidenced in numerous past WAGERs, researchers and clinicians regularly rely upon the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS, Lesieur & Blume, 1987) to determine probable pathological gambling (PG) among subjects and patients. Since its introduction, the SOGS has proven reliable in both internal consistency and test-retest reliability among subjects suspected of having extensive (i.e., pathological) gambling problems. Because the SOGS’ items measure symptom presence rather than symptom type or severity, several studies question whether the SOGS can adequately discriminate risk across all ranges of gambling activity (e.g., Gambino, 1997); particularly subclinical populations. This week, the WAGER presents the results of... Read more →