A multicenter cross-sectional study of gambling disorder among patients with methamphetamine use disorder in drug rehabilitation centers: prevalence, correlates, and network analysis.

Abstract

Background: This study sought to investigate the prevalence, correlates, and network structure of the manifested symptoms in gambling disorder (GD) among methamphetamine (MA) use disorder (MUD) patients in China.

Methods: We interviewed 1069 patients using the Semi-Structured Assessment for Drug Dependence and Alcoholism (SSADDA), Chinese version. Besides MA and other substance use disorders, GD was also ascertained by SSADDA. Other psychiatric diagnoses were ascertained, including major depressive episodes (MDEs), antisocial personality disorder, suicide and self-harm, and environmental factors, including childhood experiences.

Results: Of 1069 participants, 711 met the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for MUD. Among the 711 participants with MUD, 52.3% met DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for GD. We found that alcohol use together with MA, childhood violent experiences, MDEs, severe MUD, and gambling duration significantly differed between MUD participants with and without GD. In the GD-MUD network, the central symptoms were gambling preoccupation (GD1), giving up important activities (MUD6), financial trouble (GD9), and MA tolerance (MUD5). MA tolerance (MUD5) also served as a bridge symptom across the network, exhibiting substantial associations with gambling preoccupation (GD1).

Conclusion: GD is prevalent among individuals in treatment for MUD in China. Network analysis suggests that gambling preoccupation and MA tolerance represent central features, and that MA tolerance serves as a bridge across GD and MUD.