Emotional and Decisional Profiles in Individuals With Gambling Disorder: Associations With Emotional Dysregulation, Alexithymia, and Suicidal Ideation
- 1Department of Psychobiology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Abstract
Background:: Gambling Disorder (GD) is associated with elevated emotional dysregulation, maladaptive decision-making, and heightened suicide risk, yet the relationships among these domains remain insufficiently integrated within a single clinical framework.
Methods:: Forty-four treatment-seeking adults with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edn, DSM-5) diagnosis of GD completed measures of gambling severity (National Opinion Research Center DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS)), emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)), alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)), hot decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Mixed Gamble Task (MGT)), cold decision-making and decisional style (Lottery Choice Task (LCT), General Decision-Making Style questionnaire (GDMS)), suicidal ideation (Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)), and psychological functioning (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS)). Exploratory correlational analyses and k-means clustering, confirmed with hierarchical clustering, were conducted.
Results:: Higher emotional dysregulation was associated with lower loss aversion in hot decision-making and with more avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles; recent gambling severity was also associated with lower loss aversion as well. Higher alexithymia was associated with reduced gain and loss sensitivity in cold decision-making. Cluster analysis identified a higher-risk profile characterized by greater emotional dysregulation, higher recent gambling severity, greater suicidal ideation, higher alexithymia, and a more spontaneous decisional style.
Conclusions:: Although exploratory, these findings support a multidimensional risk framework in which emotional vulnerability and decisional tendencies jointly characterize clinically relevant heterogeneity in GD. The results underscore the importance of incorporating emotion-focused and suicide-risk assessment strategies into the clinical evaluation of individuals with GD.
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BibTeX
@article{meca2026emotional,
title = {{Emotional and Decisional Profiles in Individuals With Gambling Disorder: Associations With Emotional Dysregulation, Alexithymia, and Suicidal Ideation}},
author = {Sara Meca and Maragda Puigcerver and Noemí SanMiguel and Miguel-Angel Serrano},
journal = {Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.62641/aep.2380},
url = {https://doi.org/10.62641/aep.2380},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Emotional and Decisional Profiles in Individuals With Gambling Disorder: Associations With Emotional Dysregulation, Alexithymia, and Suicidal Ideation
AU - Sara Meca
AU - Maragda Puigcerver
AU - Noemí SanMiguel
AU - Miguel-Angel Serrano
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría
DO - 10.62641/aep.2380
UR - https://doi.org/10.62641/aep.2380
AB - Background:: Gambling Disorder (GD) is associated with elevated emotional dysregulation, maladaptive decision-making, and heightened suicide risk, yet the relationships among these domains remain insufficiently integrated within a single clinical framework. Methods:: Forty-four treatment-seeking adults with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edn, DSM-5) diagnosis of GD completed measures of gambling severity (National Opinion Research Center DSM-IV Screen for Gambling Problems (NODS)), emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)), alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)), hot decision-making (Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Mixed Gamble Task (MGT)), cold decision-making and decisional style (Lottery Choice Task (LCT), General Decision-Making Style questionnaire (GDMS)), suicidal ideation (Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)), and psychological functioning (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS)). Exploratory correlational analyses and k-means clustering, confirmed with hierarchical clustering, were conducted. Results:: Higher emotional dysregulation was associated with lower loss aversion in hot decision-making and with more avoidant and spontaneous decision-making styles; recent gambling severity was also associated with lower loss aversion as well. Higher alexithymia was associated with reduced gain and loss sensitivity in cold decision-making. Cluster analysis identified a higher-risk profile characterized by greater emotional dysregulation, higher recent gambling severity, greater suicidal ideation, higher alexithymia, and a more spontaneous decisional style. Conclusions:: Although exploratory, these findings support a multidimensional risk framework in which emotional vulnerability and decisional tendencies jointly characterize clinically relevant heterogeneity in GD. The results underscore the importance of incorporating emotion-focused and suicide-risk assessment strategies into the clinical evaluation of individuals with GD.
SN - 1139-9287
SN - 1578-2735
ER -