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Towards a Validation of the Three Pathways Model of Pathological Gambling

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Abstract

With the aim of validating the three pathways hypothesis of pathological gambling (Blaszczynski and Nower in Addiction 97:487–499, 2002) 372 pathological gamblers meeting DSM IV (2000) criteria were assessed via a structured clinical interview as well as being subjected to personality tests and evaluation of their gambling practices. Our results show that it is possible to identify three subgroups corresponding to the three pathways: behaviourally conditioned problem gamblers, emotionally vulnerable problem gamblers and antisocial impulsivist problem gamblers. Our results particularly demonstrate that impulsivist gamblers preferentially choose semi-skilful gambling (horse racing and sports gambling) whereas emotionally vulnerable gamblers are significantly more attracted to games of chance (one-armed bandits, scratch cards, etc.) This led us to propose a functional presentation of the three pathways model which differs somewhat from the Blaszczynski and Nower presentation.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to sincerely thank all the staff who contributed to this study (JEU group), for their valuable assistance and significant investment. A special thanks to those who collected the data. Members of the JEU Group are: Marie Grall-Bronnec, Gaëlle Challet-Bouju, Jean-Luc Vénisse, Lucia Romo, Cindy Legauffre, Caroline Dubertret, Irène Codina, Marc Valleur, Marc Auriacombe, Mélina Fatséas, Jean-Marc Alexandre, Pierre-Michel Llorca, Isabelle Chéreau-Boudet, Christophe Lançon, David Magalon, Michel Reynaud and Mohamed-Ali Gorsane. We also wish to thank Aurélie Wellenstein from the Marmottan Hospital’s resource center for the bibliographic research. This study was supported by both the joint support of the French Inter-departmental Mission for the fight against drugs and drug addiction (MILDT) and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), as part of the call for research projects launched by these two organizations in 2007, and a grant from the French Ministry of Health (PHRC 2009–RCB 2008-A01188-47). There were no constraints on publishing. This research was conducted at the initiative of and coordinated by the Clinical Investigation Unit BALANCED “BehaviorAL AddictioNs and ComplEx mood Disorders” of the University Hospital of Nantes, who is the sponsor of this study.

Conflict of interest

M.G.B., J.L.V. and G.C.B. declare that the University Hospital of Nantes has received funding from gambling industry (Française Des Jeux and Pari Mutuel Urbain) in the form of a sponsorship which supports the gambling section of the BALANCED Unit (the Reference Centre for Excessive Gambling). Scientific independence towards gambling industry operators is warranted. MV, IC, CL, DM, MF, ICB, MAG and AG declare that they have no conflicts of interest. There were no constraints on publishing.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Lucia Romo

    Present address: Psychotherapies Unit, Sainte-Anne Hospital – Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Paris, France

  2. Mohamed-Ali Gorsane

    Present address: Henri EY Hospital, GPS Perray-Vaucluse, Paris, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marmottan Medical Center, GPS Perray-Vaucluse, Hôpital Marmottan, 17 rue d’Armaillé, 75017, Paris, France

    Marc Valleur & Irène Codina

  2. Clinical Investigation Unit BALANCED “BehaviorAL AddictioNs and ComplEx mood Disorders”, Department of Addictology and Psychiatry, University Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Jean-Luc Vénisse, Marie Grall-Bronnec & Gaëlle Challet-Bouju

  3. EA 4275 SPHERE “bioStatistics, Pharmacoepidemiology and Human sciEnces Research tEam”, Faculties of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Jean-Luc Vénisse, Alice Guilleux, Marie Grall-Bronnec & Gaëlle Challet-Bouju

  4. EA 4430 CLIPSYD «CLInique PSYchanalyse Développement», University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Nanterre, France

    Lucia Romo

  5. Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Louis Mourier Hospital of Colombes, Colombes, France

    Lucia Romo

  6. Department of Adult Psychiatry, Sainte-Marguerite University Hospital of Marseille, Marseille, France

    David Magalon

  7. Psychiatry Laboratory, Sanpsy CNRS USR 3413, University of Bordeaux and Charles Perrens Hospital, Bordeaux, France

    Mélina Fatséas

  8. Psychiatry Department, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Isabelle Chéreau-Boudet

  9. Psychiatry and Addictology Department, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), Paul Brousse University Hospital of Villejuif, Villejuif, France

    Mohamed-Ali Gorsane

  10. Unit of Methodology and Biostatistics, University Hospital of Nantes, Nantes, France

    Alice Guilleux

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  1. Marc Valleur
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  2. Irène Codina
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  4. Lucia Romo
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  9. Alice Guilleux
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  11. Gaëlle Challet-Bouju
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Correspondence to Marc Valleur.

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Valleur, M., Codina, I., Vénisse, JL. et al. Towards a Validation of the Three Pathways Model of Pathological Gambling. J Gambl Stud 32, 757–771 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-015-9545-y

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