Research published in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests a genetic link between compulsive gambling problems and genetics.
The study was conducted by Wendy Slutske, of the University of Missouri and involved a long-term analysis of Australian twins.
Collaborating with clinical researchers at Australia’s Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, doctors examined maternal and fraternal sets of twins.
Maternal twin sets are better known as “identical twins”, but fraternal twins only share some of the same genes, a male and female set of twins, for example.
According to the findings, the study questioned 2,000 men and 2,700 women, registered with the Australian Twin Registry, about their gambling habits.
The data showed one percent of women displayed sufficient criteria to be diagnosed as a compulsive gambler, but three percent of the men displayed the same behaviors.
The data may also account for socio-economic differences, said the researchers, because the compulsive gambling rate in Australia is five-times the rate documented in the U.S.
The study concluded that “if your twin has a gambling problem, you’re more likely to develop one too if you’re an identical twin than if you’re a fraternal twin.”
The research reinforces the familiar findings of genetic research that suggests environment alone cannot explain addictive behaviors.
The research, on the other hand, did not completely discount environmental factors. Slutske and colleagues wrote genes combined with exposure to “a problem gambling role model” might lead to the gambling issues.
After the research was published, however, Slutske stopped short of implying the team had uncovered a “gambling gene” and upheld the current theory of “genes plus environment” in the clinical psychiatric community.
