Pathological Gambling and Substance Use Disorders

Background: Pathological gambling (CPG) has been considered as a behavioral addiction having similarities with substance use disorders (SUDs). Objectives and Methods: Current conceptualizations of addiction, as well as experimental studies of PG and SUDs, are reviewed in order to provide a perspective on tbe areas of convergence between addictive behaviors in PG and SUDs. Results: Shared features exist in diagnostic, clinical, physiological, and behavioral domains. Conclusions and Scielltific Significance: Similarities between PG and SUDs have important implicatiol1s for categorizing, assessing, preventing and treating both PO and SUDs.