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BackgroundDespite the demonstrated association between empathy and gambling at the behavioral level, limited neuroimaging research on empathy and gambling disorder (GD) has been conducted. Whether and how the brain network of empathy and that of gambling interact in disordered gamblers has not been investigated. This study aimed to address this research gap by examining the hierarchical organizational patterns, in which the differences of causal interactions of these networks between disordered gamblers and healthy controls were revealed.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of 32 disordered gamblers and 56 healthy controls were included in the formal analysis. Dynamic causal modeling was used to examine the effective connectivity within and between empathy and gambling networks among all participants.ResultsAll participants showed significant effective connectivity within and between empathy and gambling networks. However, compared with healthy controls, disordered gamblers displayed more excitatory effective connectivity within the gambling network, the tendency to display more excitatory effective connectivity from the empathy network to the gambling network, and reduced inhibitory effective connectivity from the gambling network to the empathy network.ConclusionThe exploratory study was the first to examine the effective connectivity within and between empathy and gambling networks among disordered gamblers and healthy controls. These results provided insights into the causal relationship between empathy and gambling from the neuroscientific perspective and further confirmed that disordered gamblers show altered effective connectivity within and between these two brain networks, which may be considered to be a potential neural index for GD identification. In addition, the altered interactions between empathy and gambling networks may also indicate the potential targets for the neuro-stimulation intervention approach (e.g., transcranial magnetic stimulation).

As the first DSM-5 based, multidimensional screening tool of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) designed for Chinese gamers, the Chinese Internet Gaming Disorder Checklist (C-IGDC) has shown satisfactory psychometric properties among Chinese young adults. Given the high vulnerability to IGD among adolescents, the present study aimed to examine the applicability of C-IGDC to Chinese adolescents to address shortfalls in the existing literature regarding the assessment of adolescent IGD screening. Through a two-stage sampling method in a cross-sectional survey, we obtained a sample of 1,253 Chinese past-year adolescent gamers (43.8% female; Mage = 14.49 years, SDage = 1.60 years) from local junior or senior high schools in Macao, China for data analysis. Our results confirmed a good model fit of the original two-level, nine-subfactor structure of the 27-item C-IGDC, and indicated adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability, as well as good concurrent validity as evidenced by expected associations with IGD functioning impairments, gameplay characteristics, and depressive symptoms. An optimal screening cutoff score (≥20) was proposed to identify probable disordered gamers among Chinese adolescents with past-year gaming experience. The findings support the extended use of C-IGDC to Chinese adolescents as a reliable and valid assessment tool for evaluating IGD severity levels and screening for probable IGD cases. Its use can facilitate a proper screening procedure for probable IGD cases in both school and clinical settings.