Abstract
Objective: The aims of this pilot study were to measure the rate of habituation of the skin blood flow (SBF), galvanic skin response (GSR) and pulse rate responses to a sequence of unconditioned auditory alerting stimuli in pathological gamblers and normal controls. It also aimed to measure the degree of neuroticism, extraversion and state and trait anxiety in pathological gamblers and normal controls. The significance of this is to study the investigation of the psychophysiology and personality characteristics of pathological gamblers, which may have implications for the relationship of pathological gambling to anxiety disorders.
Method: Five subjects with pathological gambling without anxiety disorders or psychotropic medication and 5 normal controls were exposed to a sequence of 6 auditory stimuli, randomly generated but at least 2 minutes apart. Their SBF, GSR and pulse rate responses were measured to each of these stimuli using a laser doppler, GSR sensor and pulse transducer respectively. Their rates of habituation to the stimuli were calculated for these three responses. The subjects were psychiatrically interviewed by the chief examiner and completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and the Spiel-berger's State – Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
Results: There was no difference in the rate of habituation between the pathological gambling group and the normal controls as measured by decrease in skin blood flow and increase in GSR. The pulse rate did not show habituation. The subjects with pathological gambling had significantly higher scores on Eysenck's neuroticism scale and on Spielberger's state and trait anxiety measures when compared to controls.
Conclusion: The results of this pilot study were compared to studies of the rates of habituation in subjects with anxiety disorders. General studies of subjects with anxiety disorder show a reduced rate of habituation (subjects habituate more slowly) which is in contrast to the results of this pilot study. Even though conditioning theory and exposure therapy (which is based on habituation) are important to both pathological gambling and anxiety disorders in this psychophysiological respect they would appear to be different. The results of the personality tests are similar to those found in people with anxiety disorders, along with other psychiatric conditions. Implications for the classification of pathological gambling are discussed. Methodological limitations, including the limited power of this pilot study are also discussed.