Abstract
Analyses of the etiology of pathological gambling have tended to emphasize psychosocial factors. Although these factors are undoubtedly of major significance in determining ultimate behavioral outcome, an emphasis on them should not obscure the possible role of other, biologically based determinants that may interact with the psychosocial. The plausibility of just such an interactive view is examined here by exploring specific biochemical hypotheses, their testability and their implications.
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The research reported here and the preparation of the paper itself were supported by a grant from the New Jersey Lottery Commission; we are indebted to Ms. Denise Lantz and to Ms. Lu-Ann Fine for their assistance. We are also indebted to Drs. Leonide Goldstein and Marshall Swartzburg for valuable discussions of the manuscript.
Many of the ideas elaborated here were first discussed at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Symposium on Compulsive Gambling, 1982, and at the Symposium on Pathological Gambling sponsored by the Carrier Foundation 1983.
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Carlton, P.L., Manowitz, P. Physiological factors as determinants of pathological gambling. J Gambling Stud 3, 274–285 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01019887
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01019887