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The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the role of emotion (dys)regulation in gambling disorder (GD). PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed were systematically searched for articles published until November 3, 2020. Forty-nine studies were considered for the systematic review; of these, 38 comprising 5242 participants met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. Associations were found between GD and specific emotion regulation (ER) deficits, namely (1) nonacceptance of negative emotional states, (2) difficulties in maintaining goal-directed behaviors when faced with intense emotional contexts, (3) lack of clarity about emotional states (poor emotional awareness), (4) low impulse control in reaction to negative emotional states, and (5) difficulties in accessing adaptive ER strategies. We furthermore found that GD is associated with a tendency for emotional suppression, which is known as a maladaptive ER strategy and linked with reduced mindfulness abilities. Additional moderator analyses were conducted regarding age, gender, type of instrument used to measure GD, clinical status of the samples, and quality of the studies. Overall, the data demonstrated consistent and significant associations between GD and ER. This systematic review and meta-analysis mostly supports the conceptualization of GD as an addictive disorder characterized by ER deficits and stresses the need to develop interventions in ER deficits that are tailored to the specificities of GD., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Multilevel consequences related to gambling disorder (GD) are glaring enough to make gambling a worldwide public health issue. Dissociation has been pointed out in clinical, empirical, and theoretical contributions as a key variable accounting for the development and maintenance of GD. However, we still lack a systematization of available empirical data that may facilitate further accurate conclusions., Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed with the goal to answer to open questions. We followed the PRISMA guidelines conducting a systematic search of 5 scientific databases (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed) including grey literature., Results: A total of 843 records were screened, and 20 studies were included in the qualitative and quantitative analyses. A systematic review of selected studies outlines the high heterogeneity in the operationalization of the dissociation construct as well as the absence of studies examining the role played by the specific dimensions of the pathological dissociative feature in GD. A significant, positive, and moderate effect size (r = .37) was found linking GD to dissociation. Moreover, this effect appears to not be moderated by the quality of studies, age, and gender of participants nor measures used to evaluate dissociation., Conclusions: Despite empirical evidences supporting the theoretical assertions toward the relationship between GD and dissociation, few studies have reached an articulated understanding of this topic, mostly failing to identify specific dissociative features involved in GD. Furthermore, the existence of the current gap in the literature are discussed to delineate future lines of research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: In recent literature, abnormalities in the metacognitive domain have been pointed out as psychological variables that may account for a wide range of psychopathologies, including gambling disorder (GD). Considering the growing but scattered nature of the research concerning the relationship between metacognition and GD, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing results are required., Methods: We performed a systematic search through five scientific databases for research published till December 10, 2019, following PRISMA guidelines. We also searched grey literature. After removing the redundancy, 16.855 records were screened., Results: Unanimously, authors selected 10 articles based on the inclusion criteria. Four of the selected studies evaluated metacognitive abilities towards cognitive performances, mostly considering metacognitive deficits about decision-making, while metacognitive beliefs were assessed by six of the selected articles. Only one study examined metacognitive functioning regarding GD. The meta-analytic procedure was performed on 10 identified studies based on the criteria adopted, which comprised 1.655 individuals. Results showed that the average effect size linking metacognitive dysfunctions and GD was significant and moderated by the instrument used to measure metacognition., Conclusions: The examined line of research is highly heterogeneous owing to the type of operationalization adopted for metacognition. The systematic review also showed a grey area, evidencing the lack of research on metacognitive functions. Results demonstrated by this meta-analysis call for future studies examining the role of metacognitive deficits in GD in order to delineate useful clinical indications., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A number of researches showed high prevalence of personality disorders among addicted gamblers. However, there are still few studies investigating the role of pathological personality facets in Gambling Disorder (GD). Moreover, the nature of the relationship between GD and pathological personality is not clear. We administered to a group of addicted gamblers (N = 79) and a group of healthy participants (N = 101) a battery of self-report questionnaires encompassing the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS), The Personality Inventory for DSM-V (PID-5), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Analyses of variance showed that addicted gamblers, compared to healthy participants, scored higher on most of the subscales of the DERS, on the Suppression Dimension of the ERQ and on the five main domains of the PID-5 whereas they obtained lower scores on the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that some specific facets of pathological personality, emotion dysregulation and lack of cognitive reappraisal, significantly predict GD's severity. Finally, emotion dysregulation levels and lack of cognitive reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between these and GD's severity. Our results confirmed the central roles played by both pathological personality and deficit in emotion regulation capacities in GD. Specifically, Impulsivity, Lack of Perseverance and Suspiciousness may be important predictors of GD severity. Moreover, emotion dysregulation and lack of adaptive emotion regulation strategies partially explained such relationship. As such, training for emotion regulation abilities appears strategically useful in the treatment of addicted gamblers with pathological personality traits., (© 2019 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)