Impulsivity and time perception as predictors of pathological gambling

Abstract

Current study examined multivariate relationships between impulsivity, time perception, gambling behavior and co-variates as age, gender, education and nationality. Impulsivity, time perception and risk for pathological gambling (PG) was assessed in 3500 participants aged between 15 and 74 years (1506 men and 2024 woman, 2455 Estonians and 1075 non-Estonian residents of Estonia) with different educational and socio-economical background. Participants completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and the modified Impulsive Behavior Scale (mUPPS). Time Production Task (TPT) was presented to all participants. As the result, impulsive subjects tend to perceive time intervals as shorter and they under produce time intervals more than self-controlled subjects. Impulsivity was associated with PG to the extent that this association can be interpreted as causal but it is not mediated by time perception as was hypothesized.