P-103 - Dot probe task to asses attentional bias in pathological gamblers (PG)

Abstract

Pathological gambling is often considered a behavioral addiction. Attentional bias (AB) refers to the observation that substance-related cues tend to grab the attention of experienced substance users. The Dot Probe Task has been used to assess AB in individuals with substance addiction, however it has never been used to assess AB in PG. The aims of the present study are assessing potential AB in PG using Dot Probe Task with exposures time that assess attentional maintenance checking the possible correlation of PG severity with degree of attentional bias. PG sample was 23 subjects and Non Gamblers group (NG) was 21 subjects. To asses the severity of gambling we use the South Oaks Gambling Screen. We can define two types of reaction times to assess the AB: a) Congruence time: time the subject takes to detect the point when it appears on the hemi-screen replacing the cue picture. b) Non-congruence time: idem when replacing the neutral picture. The difference between these times is the AB index. The PG had a congruence time significantly lower than the non-congruence time which indicates the presence of AB in this group. There were also differences between AB index in PG and NG sample, validating the Dot Probe task to detect AB. Moreover, there weren’t relation between the severity of the game and AB. The study shows the presence of AB in PG at level of maintenance of attention (disengagement) and the validity of Dot Probe Task to detect AB in PG.