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. 2019 Aug 7;9(8):191. doi: 10.3390/brainsci9080191

Table 2.

Studies on alexithymia and gambling in clinical samples.

Authors Country Study Design Sample Assessment of Gambling Assessment of Alexithymia Other Relevant Variables Main Results
Bonnaire et al. (2009) [24] France Cross-sectional
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    PG recruited from different gambling venues (cafés, racetracks, slot machines, and traditional casino games)

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    N = 141

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    M = 126

  • -

    F = 15

  • -

    Age = NR
  • -

    DSM-IV criteria

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    SOGS

 TAS-20
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    Depression

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    Sensation seeking
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    PG racetrackers with high-level alexithymia were more prevalent than PG slot machines and traditional casino games subjects (67% vs. 44% and 34%, respectively) (p = 0.04).

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    Significant positive correlation between DIF and disinhibition scores (r = 0.36), and between TAS total and depression scores (r = 0.35) in PG racetrackers.

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    Significant negative correlation between TAS-20 total and sensation seeking total scores (r = 0.47) and positive correlation between DIF and depression scores (r = 0.35) in PG slot machines gamblers.
Grall-Bronnec et al. (2010) [31] France Cross-sectional
  • -

    Clinical sample of PG

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    N = 24

  • -

    M = 19

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    F = 5

  • -

    Age = 43.8 ± 10.7
  • -

    DSM-IV criteria

  • -

    SOGS

 TAS-20 - Two third of participants (66.7%) scored in the alexithymia range (TAS-20 > 56).
Maniaci et al. (2015) [33] Italy Cross-sectional, case-control study
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    Clinical PG and control samples

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    N = 140 (70 PG and 70 HC)

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    M = 118

  • -

    F = 22

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    Age = PG 42.41 ± 10.51; HC 41.28 ± 13.55

 - SOGS TAS-20
  • -

    Clinical syndromes

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    Personality disorders
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    Significant higher scores were observed in PG compared to HC on TAS total (F(1, 138) = 13.656, p < 0.001), DDF (F(1, 138) = 8.470, p < 0.01), and EOT (F(1, 138) = 16.741, p < 0.001) scores.

  • -

    Hierarchical multiple regression showed that alexithymia significantly predicted gambling severity (R2 Change = 0.052; F(4, 109) = 4.725, p < 0.01) over and above the variance explained by personality disorders and clinical syndromes in the first step. DDF was the only significantly TAS-20 predicting scale (β = −1.612, p = 0.04).
Gori et al. (2016) [30] Italy Cross-sectional, case-control study
  • -

    Clinical PG and control samples

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    N = 204 (154 PG and 50 HC)

  • -

    M = 178

  • -

    F = 26

  • -

    Age = 47.75 ± 12.08

 - SOGS TAS-20
  • -

    Dissociation

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    Impulsivity
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    Gambling severity was significantly and positively correlated with TAS total score (r = 0.50).

  • -

    TAS-20 total score was a significant predictor (β = 0.241, p < 0.001) of gambling severity explaining, together with impulsivity, 40% of its variance.

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    Only the DIF factor was shown as a significant predictor (β = 0.392, p < 0.001) of gambling severity (Adjusted R2 = 0.13).
Maniaci et al. (2017) [34] Italy Cross-sectional, case-control study
  • -

    Clinical PG and control samples

  • -

    N = 200 (100 PG and 100 HC)

  • -

    M = 170

  • -

    F = 30

  • -

    Age = PG 41.53 ± 10.96; HC 41.27 ± 13.46

- SOGS TAS-20 - Anger expression
  • -

    PG subjects scored higher than HC to all TAS-20 scales (Total: F = 26.053, p < 0.001; DIF: F = 4.808, p < 0.05; DDF: F = 17.525, p < 0.001; and EOT: F = 28.932, p < 0.001).

  • -

    Positive significant association between TAS-20 and gambling severity was found (r = 0.46) and in multiple regression alexithymia significantly predicted gambling severity (β = 0.457, p < 0.001), accounting for 20.9% of its variance (F(1, 198) = 52.319, p < 0.001).
Di Trani et al. (2017) [29] Italy Cross-sectional
  • -

    Clinical DG

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    N = 60

  • -

    M = 48

  • -

    F = 12

  • -

    Age = 44.53 ± 13.00
  • -

    KFG

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    SCID 5 RV

 TAS-20 - Attachment style
  • -

    High-level (TAS-20 ≥ 61) and borderline-level (TAS-20 = 51–60) of alexithymia was found in 40% and 37%.

  • -

    No significant relationships were found between alexithymia (total and factor scores) and gambling severity.

  • -

    TAS total score was not found to be a significant predictor of gambling severity through a multiple regression analysis executed with age, gender, and attachment variables.

DDF: Difficulty Describing Feelings; DG: Disordered Gamblers; DIF: Difficulty Identifying Feelings; EOT: Externally Oriented Thinking; F: Females; HC: Healthy Controls; KFG: Kurzfragebogen zum Glücksspielverhalten; M: Males; NR: Not Reported; PG: Pathological Gamblers; SCID 5 RV: Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 Research Version; SOGS: South Oaks Gambling Screen; TAS: Toronto Alexithymia Scale.