RESEARCH QUESTION
What personality and demographic factors predict pathological gambling (PG)? 

PURPOSE
Pathological and non-pathological gamblers were compared on measures of the Five-Factor Model of personality, impulsivity and sensation seeking. This study investigated which personality and demographic variables were associated with PG. 

HYPOTHESIS
None stated. 

PARTICIPANTS
Participants were 90 Norwegian pathological gamblers (average age = 38 years; 73% males) and 66 Norwegian non-pathological gamblers (average age = 40 years; 65% males). All of the PG participants scored ≥ 5 on the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised (i.e., met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PG). All of the non-PG participants scored ≤ 3 on the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised (i.e., did not meet DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PG). 

PROCEDURE
Participants in the PG group were treatment seeking patients recruited to participate in either an out-patient or in-patient treatment study for PG. Participants in both the PG and non-PG groups completed measures of gambling behaviour, impulsivity, sensation seeking, and personality characteristics. Participants in the PG group completed the instruments as part of the screening procedure before entering treatment.

 MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised assessed gambling problems over the past 3 months. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory  assessed neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The Eysenck Impulsivity Scale, Narrow Impulsiveness subscale, assessed narrow (pathological) impulsivity, and it consisted of 13 items regarding the ability to plan, postpone, or think before acting. Impulsivity was assessed via the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). The Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking Scale was used to examine sensation seeking (need for novelty and need for stimulus intensity). 

KEY RESULTS

There were no differences between the PG and non-PG groups on age or gender. The PG group was less educated than the non-PG group. Further, the PG group scored lower than the non-PG group on need for novelty, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Although 12 of 14 predictor variables showed an association with PG, only 4 (neuroticism, openness, narrow impulsiveness, and need for stimulus intensity) uniquely predicted PG - igh scores on neuroticism, low scores on openness, high scores on narrow impulsiveness, and high scores on need for stimulus intensity were related to PG. 

LIMITATIONS

The study only measured the personality characteristics of patients suffering from PG at pre-treatment. Further, the study was cross-sectional in nature, which made it difficult for the authors to draw firm conclusions about cause and effect. Finally, the authors did not differentiate between different subgroups of gamblers, despite the fact that previous research found a relationship between gaming preference (skill versus luck based) and personality variables. 

CONCLUSIONS
Pathological gamblers do not represent a uniform population. High levels of impulsivity in pathological gamblers has been related to drop-out from treatment, so  treatments should be tailored for individuals.