Research Shows a Genetic Link for Pathological Gambling
Pathological gambling runs in families, according to recent research conducted by University of Iowa professor Donald W. Black, M.D. Black's results confirm what clinicians have long suspected - that genetics play a role in the development of gambling disorders.
Although previous studies have explored the idea of heredity in gambling disorders, experts indicate the methodology of these projects often has been weak, consequentially developing fragile results. Black's research is the first study of its kind to include detailed interviews of family members of individuals classified as pathological gamblers.
According to Black, demonstrating pathological gambling runs in families is the first step to identifying what genes may underlie the disorder. Using a grant provided by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG), Black traced a group of 31 disordered gamblers and their parents, siblings or children (classified as "first-degree" relatives), as well as a control group of 31 non-problem gamblers and their relatives, to look for commonalities in impulsive behaviors. According to the study, the "lifetime rates" of a pathological gambling disorder were 8.3 percent among a "first-degree relative" of a pathological gambler, but only 2.1 percent among the control group's relatives.
Additionally, the research revealed that families with pathological gambling disorders "also had significantly higher lifetime rates" of alcoholism, substance abuse disorder and antisocial personality disorder. The study also found that men often experience the onset of pathological gambling at an earlier age than women. According to the study, the average age of onset for pathological gambling in the male subjects was 36, while the average among women was 39.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is providing funds for an expanded study in which Black will analyze about three times the number of people. He expects to confirm his early findings, and hopes eventually to conduct a molecular study in order to locate a single gene that can induce a gambling disorder, thereby potentially leading to the development of a drug to override it.
"Something is being passed along in these families that increases the persons' likelihood of engaging in impulsive and ultimately self-destructive behavior," Black said. "Ideally, it would be nice to discover a drug that would reliably interrupt that urge."
Black is scheduled to discuss his research and its implications for assessment and treatment of pathological gambling at the seventh annual NCRG Conference on Gambling and Addiction at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, 2006.
