As noted above, pathological impulsive behaviors may in some, or even many, cases from an erosion of inhibitory, self-control abilities, and this is almost certainly true for compulsive actions, as well. Compulsive behaviors are not necessarily pathological themselves; rather, it is progressive loss of control over habits that defines a pathological course. In that sense, the window into inhibitory control abilities we get from the study of impulsivity and impulse control almost certainly also generalizes in many cases to compulsive behaviors.
