![]() Demographic, biological, personality, family, peer, and genetic factors, among other possible risk factors, may interact over time to influence the course of outcomes, symptoms, and behaviors. A risk factor is something that has a possible role in the initiation of a disease, the progression of a disease to a further state, or in the waning of a disease (which is then a protective factor). Research on the diagnostic classification of pathological gambling has lagged behind, and it has been identified as an area in serious need of etiological research.Īs with other areas of research, when designing, undertaking, or evaluating etiological research on pathological gambling, one must understand and distinguish between associations and causal relationships among many potential risk factors. However, with the American Psychiatric Association's introduction of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), research on the more common mental disorders has flourished and has led to a concomitant explosion in research on risk factors (Goodwin and Guze, 1974). Precise diagnostic labels are less common in psychiatry. ![]() Medical labels such as tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can also specify the diagnosis, cause, or etiology of a physical illness. For example, lung cancer, myocardial infarction, and lymphatic leukemia are medical labels that describe both the clinical site and the clinical picture of those illnesses. ![]() In addition, etiological explanations keen on identifying causal pathways necessarily take labels into consideration, because they often describe the clinical site and clinical picture of an illness. When discussing the etiology of an illness, it is useful to revisit its label, because a label, as suggested by Nathan (1967), reflects the state of knowledge about the illness at the time it is labeled. Throughout the chapter, substantial deficiencies in current research on pathological gambling are noted.Ĭonsiderable discussion has already been devoted to the definition, measurement, and prevalence of pathological gambling. Cooccurring disorders and their similar risk factors are also discussed. ![]() Risk factors for and correlates of pathological gambling, including psychosocial, environmental, genetic, and biological ones, are discussed and evaluated in terms of commonly accepted criteria for determining the strength of an association. This chapter begins by describing considerations for undertaking or evaluating etiological research on pathological gambling, as well as the current state of knowledge regarding the causal pathways of pathological gambling. The process of discovering causal associations and pathways to understand how different factors, exposures, or disease-causing situations relate to each other usually involves multidisciplinary teams of psychiatrists, psychologists, statisticians, sociologists, economists, and epidemiologists. The outcomes of such research often lead to successful treatments and preventive interventions. Because of the complex analyses and study designs that must be used, this type of research represents the crown jewel of health research. Etiology is the study of causal pathways. ![]()
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