Pathological gambling in women: a review

Abstract

Pathological gambling was only recently recognized as a psychiatric disorder (DSM-III, APA, 1980). Most studies of pathological gambling include only male subjects. Despite the paucity of information, it is likely that at least one-third of pathological gamblers are women. The objective of this article is to review clinical and epidemiological characteristics of female gamblers as compared to their male counterparts. MEDLINE and PsycINFO were searched for investigational studies and reviews of the past 10 years on clinical (sociodemographic, course and progression, psychiatric comorbidities, genetics, and personality) and epidemiological aspects of female gamblers. Other relevant articles were also selected from reference lists. It is concluded that the current literature indicates some common characteristics in female and male gamblers, but it also indicates the possibility that each gender may carry etiopathogenic differences that when better understood should lead to improved treatment and prevention strategies.

Gender-related Differences in Individuals Seeking Treatment for Kleptomania

“…The most significant difference among current disorders reported by men and women was among other impulse control disorders (51.9% of men vs. 26.5% of women; p=0.018), with this difference being most attributable to current intermittent explosive disorder (11.1% of men vs. 0% of women; p=.021) and compulsive sexual behaviors (14.8% of men vs. 4.4% of women; p=0.098). With respect to lifetime comorbidity, the most significant between-group differences were observed for eating disorders (19 …”

“…14 Men with pathological gambling are typically more likely than affected women to be young, single, and living alone without children. 15 As compared to men, women typically begin gambling later in life and the interval between the age of starting to gamble and developing a gambling problem is usually shorter for women, [16][17][18][19][20][21] consistent with a "telescoping" progression. Whereas male gamblers report advertisements as eliciting urges to gamble, female gamblers more frequently report feelings of boredom or loneliness as triggers.…”

Diferencias de sexo en adictos a las máquinas tragaperras

“…No hay diferencias en la edad, lo cual es coincidente con los estudios de Tavares, Zilberman, Beites y Gentil (2001) y Martins et al, 2002. No hemos tenido en cuenta la edad de inicio en el juego, por lo que no podemos apreciar el telescoping effect (la progresión hacia la adicción es más rápida en mujeres que en varones) descrito por Lisanky (1957) y que se ha observado en el juego patológico (Grant y Kim, 2002) y en adicciones químicas (Piazza, Vrbka y Yeager, 1989;Anglin, Hser y McGlothlin, 1987).…”

“…Los estudios realizados en función del sexo son claramente más numerosos en las adicciones a sustancias que en el juego patológico (Martins, Lobo, Tavares y Gentil, 2002). De hecho, son muy pocas las mujeres que han formado parte de las investigaciones clínicas publicadas hasta la fecha (Echeburúa, 2005).…”

Cibles du traitement des joueurs problématiques : existe-t-il des différences entre les hommes et les femmes ?

“…En effet, au cours des dernières décennies, la plupart des études portant sur le jeu pathologique n'ont sélectionné que des individus de sexe masculin pour composer leur échantillon (Granero et al, 2009 ;Martins, Lobo, Tavares, & Gentil, 2002). Selon l'équipe de Granero (2009), la sous-représentation des femmes dans les études s'expliquerait par une tendance à percevoir les activités de JHA comme des activités exclusivement masculines.…”