examined the relationship between gambling symptoms, impulsivity, and compulsivity in 38 pathological gamblers who were participating in a trial of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine. The correlation between gambling severity and compulsivity did not withstand statistical control for impulsivity, and the improvement in gambling severity following paroxetine treatment was best predicted by impulsivity rather than compulsivity. Thus, while both impulsive and compulsive features are detectable in pathological gamblers, impulsive features seem to predominate and are more closely associated with the severity of gambling problems (Blanco et al., 2009).
