The dimensional structure of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale for Pathological Gambling: functional differences between true compulsions and compulsive behavior

ABSTRACT

The present study examined the factorial structure of the Pathological Gambling Adaptation of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (PG-YBOCS) to delineate similarities and differences between thoughts and behavior related to pathological gambling (PG) versus obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The PG-YBOCS was administered in its self-report version in 265 individuals with gambling problems.

A factor analysis revealed a two-dimensional structure. The first dimension represented gambling severity; the second dimension reflected resistance to thoughts/urges and behavior. The first but not the second dimension was strongly correlated with depression and the severity and functional relevance of gambling problems. When the standard factor structure (thoughts vs. behavior) was adopted, depression, which is correlated with obsessions but not compulsions in OCD, was correlated with both subscales. Length of illness, a correlate of compulsions in OCD, showed no association with gambling.

The present study corroborates factor analyses on the Y-BOCS, demonstrating the existence of an independent resistance dimension. Unlike in OCD, no evidence for independent factors tapping thoughts versus behaviors was obtained, which likely reflects the addictive rather than compulsive nature of problem gambling. Specific correlates of thoughts and behavior in OCD were not confirmed in gambling, further speaking for functional differences between the two disorders.

KEYWORDS:

• Gambling
• slot machine gambling
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• behavioral addiction
• addiction
• resistance

Acknowledgements

None.

Conflicts of Interest

Competing interests

All authors declare that they have no competing interests and that the article has no financial/economic implications.

Constraints on publishing

The authors declare that there are no contractual constraints (including governmental or institutional constraints) that exist with regard to the submitted manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The study was funded by the Gauselmann AG, a German gaming and gambling company. The Gauselmann AG had no involvement in the study design, implementation, data collection and analyses, the manuscript, or the submission process. The declaration of the German Interstate Gambling Treaty stipulates that the gambling industry spends money on the prevention of pathological gambling.

Notes on contributors

Steffen Moritz

Steffen Moritz is a psychologist affiliated with the University Medical Centre Hamburg (Germany) and works at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. His research is mainly concerned with psychosis, OCD and gambling.

Lara Bücker

Lara Bücker is a psychologist affiliated with the University Medical Centre Hamburg (Germany) and works at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.

Charlotte Wittekind

Charlotte Wittekind is a psychologist affiliated with the department of psychology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (Germany). Her main research activities are biases in PTSD and addiction.

Łukasz Gawęda

Łukasz Gawęda is a psychologist affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. His main research activities relate to psychosis.

Josefine Gehlenborg

Josefine Gehlenborg is a psychologist affiliated with the University Medical Centre Hamburg (Germany) and works at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. The present paper is part of her Ph.D.