Personality Disorders and Pathological Gambling: Comorbidity and Treatment Dropout Predictors

Abstract

This study describes the personality disorders (PDs) among French-speaking Canadian gamblers seeking cognitive and behavioural treatment (CBT) in an external setting. One hundred pathological gamblers were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II (SCID-II) in four different treatment centres for problem gambling. Sixty-four per cent had at least one comorbid PD according to the semi-structured interview based on the DSM-IV. The most common PDs were represented in clusters B and C. The presence of a comorbid cluster B was a significant predictor of treatment dropout. This characteristic seems to reduce the chances of recovery for some pathological gamblers. The implications for clinical practice and research are discussed.

Acknowledgements

The authors wished to thank the Canadian Institutes on Health Research (CIHR) and the Québec Centre of Excellence for the Prevention and Treatment of Pathological Gambling at Laval University for their moral and financial support. The authors also wished to thank the Domrémy Mauricie/Centre-du-Québec Centre and the Jean-Patrice Chiasson Centre for their participation to this study.