Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38802627›Full record

ArticleJournal of gambling studies2025

An Empirical Investigation of the Three-Pathway Model and its Contribution to the Gambling Disorder Psychopathology.

Bruna Mayara Lopes, Hermano Tavares

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Article in Journal of gambling studies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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3 · Its place in the literature

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2 citing papers in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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2 authors.

Bruna Mayara LopesInstitute and Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, Butantã, São Paulo, 03178-200, Brazil. bm.lopes@usp.br.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-7249
Hermano TavaresInstitute and Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, Butantã, São Paulo, 03178-200, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBlaszczynski and Nower (2002) proposed a theoretical model that leads to problem gambling via three pathways: (1) operant conditioning; (2) emotional vulnerability; and (3) impulsivity and psychopathy. In the current investigation, we explored the relationship between these three putative causative dimensions and clinical core features of Gambling Disorder (GD): gambling craving, gambling-related cognitive distortions, gambling (wagering) behavior, and gambling severity.

resultsData on 343 people with disordered gambling were analyzed. Measures representing the three pathways were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA generated three profiles. The original dimension of impulsivity/psychopathy was divided into two parts; the impulsivity-related traits were combined with symptoms of depression and anxiety to form one single component representing a volatile emotional, cognitive and behavioral style, named the Affect-instability component. The other two components were Psychopathy and Operant Behavior. Linear regression models for each PCA component found that the Affect-instability component was associated with all core features of GD, i.e., craving, cognitive distortions, gambling behavior and severity (standardized Β range: 0.298-0.448, all p < 0.001). Operant Behavior was significantly associated with gambling behavior (standardized Β=-0.137, p = 0.038) and gambling severity (standardized Β=-0.157, p = 0.006). Psychopathy was associated only with gambling cognitive distortions (standardized Β=-0.300, p < 0.001), suggesting a wider dimension of cognitive challenges in GD. DISCUSSION: An instability component encompassing emotional and cognitive dysregulation was the strongest predictor of all clinical features of GD. The correlation between operant conditioning and gambling severity suggests that behavioral conditioning plays a role in the persistence of maladaptive gambling.

Indexed as

Conditioning, OperantGamblingAdultCravingFemaleHumansImpulsive BehaviorMaleMiddle AgedModels, PsychologicalSeverity of Illness IndexDevelopment of gambling disorderEmpirical investigationGambling disorderThree-pathway model

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.