SCL-90 Assessed Psychopathology in Pathological Gamblers

Abstract

The SCL-90 was administered to 68 pathological gamblers receiving behavioural treatment for uncontrollable gambling to assess the degree of psychopathology present within this recently recognized psychiatric category. Consistent with the literature, pathological gamblers were characterized by high depression, t-test analyses showed pathological gamblers obtained significantly higher scores on all scales than those of normal controls. Five of the scale scores were similar to, and the remainder, with the exception of Depression, were signficantly lower than those of psychiatric outpatients. Results indicate the presence of increased psychopathology in pathological gamblers.