Correlation between precontemplation and alpha activity in gambling disorder

Abstract

Purpose: Gambling disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling. In the present study, we evaluated the characteristics of resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings in patients with gambling disorder. In addition, we explored the association between the EEG characteristics of the patients and the stages of change in a transtheoretical model.

Methods: All participants were men who visited a gambling disorder clinic in Seoul, Korea. At the assessment, questionnaires, including the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RCQ), were administered and resting-state EEGs were carried out. Participants were grouped based on Ward's method for cluster analysis. Independent sample t-tests were used to evaluate group differences. To assess the relationship between the clinical data and the EEG recordings, we used Pearson's partial correlation analysis.

Results: Overall, 63 male participants were enrolled. Cluster analysis of the alpha activity revealed two clusters. No significant differences were observed in the demographic or clinical data between the two groups except for the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). We found that the precontemplation score of the RCQ was positively correlated with the z-score of the relative alpha power in almost all cortical regions.

Conclusion: This study suggests that EEG parameters, particularly alpha activity, could inform us about the subtypes or stages of change in gambling disorder. Alpha power is the predominant EEG rhythm in a relaxed, alert person; thus, alpha power serves as an index of relaxation. We expect that the level of alpha activity could be utilized as an additional parameter to help clinicians assess and treat patients with gambling disorder.

Keywords: alpha activity; gambling disorder; quantitative electroencephalography; stages-of-change model.

Figure 1

Topographical maps of the absolute and relative powers in patients with gambling addiction. Scales show the uV² for absolute power and the % for relative power. Red represents higher values, and blue represents lower values. The left topography denotes the topographical distribution of the z-score of electroencephalogram power. The right topography denotes the topographical distribution of p-values between group 1 and group 2 (Independent t-test).

Figure 2

Scatter plots of the Pearson’s partial correlation analysis controlled for age, education, BDI and BAI between z-score of relative alpha power and pre-contemplation score of RTCQ. Abbreviations: BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; BAI, Beck Anxiety Inventory; RTCQ, Readiness To Change Questionnaire.